In our recent post on Through the Immigration Lens, we discussed the uncertainty created after the district court’s December 31, 2025 decision restoring Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for beneficiaries from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua, and the resulting confusion for employers attempting to navigate Form I-9 compliance. The court decision

Continue Reading TPS Pendulum Swings as the Ninth Circuit Sides with DHS and Restores Certain Terminations

By: Dawn M. Lurie, Alexander J. Madrak, and Selene Malench*

DHS cites improved country conditions as grounds for ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS), leaving employers to again navigate compliance challenges and workforce planning.

On December 15, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice in the Federal

Continue Reading DHS Ends TPS Ethiopia: Staying Compliant in a Changing Environment

By: Dawn Lurie, Owen Wolfe, and Alex Madrak

In the ongoing narrative of the Trump administration’s attempt to repeal the Humanitarian Parole program for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV), on Monday, May 5th, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied the Department of

Continue Reading CHNV Parole Pause, Continued: Mass Terminations Still Blocked, but SCOTUS Appeal Looms

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a permanent increase in the automatic extension period for certain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) up to 540 days. The final rule will take effect on January 13, 2025.

Background on the History of Automatic EAD Extensions

The automatic extension of EADs was

Continue Reading DHS Announces Permanent Increase of Automatic EAD Extensions

Additional contributing author: Matthew Parker*

USCIS’s E-Verify Disposal Announcement

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that employers using E-Verify have until January 5, 2025, to download and retain records for cases last updated on or before December 31, 2014. After this date, USCIS will permanently dispose of

Continue Reading Last Call for E-Verify Records: Compliance Steps Before the January 5, 2025 Disposal

On August 2, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a rule allowing the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in the United States. In doing so, the Court rejected a longstanding challenge which originated in 2015 from Save Jobs USA (“Save Jobs”)

Continue Reading Victory for H-1B Visa Spouses: U.S. Court Upholds Work Authorization

After the Parole in Place Program (“Keeping Families Together”) went into effect on August 19, 2024, sixteen State Attorneys General filed a complaint against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) et. al. The complaint alleges that the program is unlawful and will cause irreparable harm to the states that

Continue Reading Judge Temporarily Pauses Parole in Place Program for Undocumented Spouses and Stepchildren

Additional contributing author: Isabella Cohen

Seyfarth Synopsis: On Aug. 19, 2024, DHS posted for public inspection a Federal Register notice implementing the “Keeping Families Together” process for certain noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens. “Keeping Families Together” enables noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for lawful

Continue Reading New DHS Parole Policy for Long-Term Undocumented Spouses, Stepchildren

On the morning of February 14, 2024, several clients reached out after encountering issues with the photo matching tool in E-Verify. They reported discrepancies where the photos transmitted by E-Verify did not align with the photos on the employees’ documents. It became increasingly clear that E-Verify was not rendering

Continue Reading Valentines Day Glitch: E-Verify Photo-Match Mayhem

By: Jake Campbell and Weijia (Victoria) Ma

Seyfarth Synopsis: The below summarizes recent legal updates that impact U.S. immigration:

1. FY2024 H-1B Cap Registration

On March 27, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that initial registration was complete and that all prospective petitioners with selected registrations selected in

Continue Reading April 2023 U.S. Immigration Alert