July 2010 ★ This Month in Immigration News

Katherine A. Baldwin, Deputy Special Counsel for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, noted in a recent letter (PDF, sent on June 29, 2010, to Angelo Paparelli, partner in the Business Immigration Group of Seyfarth Shaw LLP) that in general, decisions not to hire individuals based solely on their need for visa sponsorship or their need for a written employer submission to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, either currently or in the future, would not be actionable under the antidiscrimination provisions of U.S. immigration law. She noted that only certain classes of individuals are protected from citizenship status discrimination under the law, including U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, temporary residents, recent lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has invited the public and other Federal agencies to comment on an information collection requirement concerning CBP’s Trusted Traveler Programs, including the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI), which allows expedited entry at specified southwest land border ports of entry, and the Free and Secure Trade program (FAST), which provides expedited border processing for known, low-risk commercial drivers.

The purpose of the Trusted Traveler programs, the notice explains, is to provide prescreened travelers expedited entry into the U.S. The benefit to the traveler is less time spent in line waiting to be processed by CBP.

Applicants may apply for these programs using paper forms available at http://www.cbp.gov or through the Global On-line Enrollment System (GOES).

The notice, published on July 6, 2010, is available as a PDF.

In response to a previously published proposed rule and related supplementary notice, the Department of State received 1,797 comments and has reopened the comment period for an additional 60 days, until August 27, 2010. The interim final rule takes effect on July 13, 2010. Nonimmigrant visa fees, including fees for Machine-Readable Visas (MRVs) and Border Crossing Cards (BCCs), have been modified under a separate rule published in May 2010, and those modified fees are also reflected in the Schedule of Fees in the interim rule.

Among other fee changes:

• The Department is increasing the application fee for a passport book for an adult (age 16 and older) from $55 to $70, and increasing the passport book security surcharge from $20 to $40. The application fee for a passport book for a minor (under age 16) will remain at $40.
• Instead of a single fee for processing an immigrant visa, the Department has created fees depending on the category of visa. The application fee for an employment-based visa processed on the basis of an I-140 petition will be $720. The application fee for a family-based visa (immediate relative and preference) processed on the basis of an I-130, I-600, or I-800 petition will be $330. Other immigrant visa applications (including for diversity visa applicants) will have a fee of $305.
• The Department is increasing the immigrant visa security surcharge, which all applicants except those statutorily exempted must pay, from $45 to $74.

The interim final rule, which includes a long discussion of the many comments received, is available as a downloadable PDF.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued guidance on the documentation employers may accept and that temporary protected status (TPS) beneficiaries may present as evidence of employment eligibility.

The guidance notes that the expiration date on the card is usually the end of the TPS period for which the bearer last registered. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extends a specific TPS country designation, it sometimes issues a Federal Register notice containing a temporary blanket automatic extension of expiring employment authorization documents (EADs) for TPS beneficiaries from that country to allow time for USCIS to issue new EADs with updated validity dates. The USCIS Web site and the Federal Register notice will describe this EAD automatic extension and will note the date when the auto-extension ends. The extension is typically for six months, but the time period may vary.

If an employee presents a TPS-related EAD that is expired for completion of the Form I-9 employment authorization verification process, the employer must accept it if it remains unexpired based on an auto-extension of the EAD by DHS as announced in a notice published in the Federal Register. The card must reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee presenting it to be acceptable.

The guidance includes an example of a valid TPS-related EAD and additional detailed instructions. It is available at their website.

On June 24, 2010, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced $78,410,000 in grant funds through the National Farmworker Jobs Program. The program provides training and employment services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. The Department of Labor said the program “is designed to counter the impact of chronic unemployment and underemployment experienced by migrant and seasonal farmworkers who depend primarily on agricultural labor jobs.”

“Farmworkers do so much for families and for the nation’s economy as a whole. These hard-working members of our community deserve our support,” said Secretary Solis. “Today’s grants are an opportunity to help these workers as they upgrade their skills to improve their chances of advancement in their current employment or seek opportunities in other industries.”

The National Farmworker Jobs Program provides funding to community-based organizations and public agencies that assist farmworkers and their families in attaining greater economic stability. In addition to skills training, the program provides support services that help farmworkers participate in training programs or retain their agriculture employment. Services provided to farmworkers under the program include skills assessments, job search assistance, basic education remediation, case management, and on-the-job training. In addition, the program provides services such as child care, health care, and transportation that help workers keep their current jobs or successfully complete training programs.

Of the 50 states, 48 each have one grantee. California has five grantees. There are no grantees in Alaska. National Farmworker Jobs Program grants are awarded every two years. The new grants are continuations of 2009 funding.

The announcement, which includes a full list of grantees by state and the amounts granted, is available at this website.