Securities:
DHS Increases FY 2024 Limit on H-2B Nonfarm Workers, Offers Portability – In consultation with the Department of Labor, the Department of Homeland Security is increasing the total number of noncitizens eligible to receive an H-2B nonimmigrant visa up to 64,716 for fiscal year 2024. 20,000 visas are set aside to nationals of Guatemala and El Salvador. , Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
DOJ Reaches Multiple Immigration Discrimination Settlements – On the heels of the $25 million settlement agreement between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Apple Inc., the DOJ settled immigration discrimination cases with a city health system of New York and a recruiting agency with offices throughout the country.
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DHS Increases FY 2024 Limit on H-2B Nonfarm Workers, Offers Portability
Effective November 17, 2023, in consultation with the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is increasing the total number of noncitizens eligible to receive an H-2B nonimmigrant visa to 64 716 for the financial year (financial year). ) 2024. 20,000 visas are reserved for nationals of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica. Visas will be available “only to businesses that are suffering or will suffer imminent irreparable harm, as certified by the employer.” DHS also provides temporary portability flexibility, explained in more detail in the temporary rule.
The additional visas will be distributed in multiple allocations and time frames, which are summarized in the temporary rule. DHS has stated that it will not accept any H-2B petitions under these allocations after September 16, 2024, and will not approve any H-2B petitions after September 30, 2024. The portability provisions do not are available only to petitioners and H-2Bs. non-immigrant workers starting work until the end of January 24, 2025.
The DOL’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification is accepting comments on the temporary rule until January 16, 2024.
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DOJ Reaches Multiple Immigration Discrimination Settlements
On the heels of $25 million from the Department of Justice (DOJ) settlement agreement working with Apple Inc., the DOJ settled immigration discrimination cases with a New York City health system and a staffing agency with offices across the country. Below are settlement highlights:
New York Health and Hospital Corporation. On November 16, 2023, the DOJ announced a settlement agreement with New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (NYCHH), which provides health care services to more than one million New Yorkers. The agreement resolves the DOJ’s determination that NYCHH violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by rejecting a worker’s valid employment authorization document (EAD) on the basis of the national origin of the worker.
The worker’s EAD had been automatically extended under Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The DOJ determined that NYCHH rejected the valid document and delayed the worker’s onboarding based on its erroneous assumption that the worker’s country of birth listed on her EAD must be the same as the country designated for the GST. The DOJ pointed out that Federal Register notices that automatically extend a TPS worker’s work authorization explain that the worker does not have to submit additional documentation or prove citizenship status, and that the country of birth indicated on the worker’s documents does not need to match the TPS. -designated country.
Under the terms of the agreement, NYCHH will reimburse the affected worker’s wages and a civil penalty in the United States, train its staff in anti-discrimination provisions, review and revise its employment policies and training materials, and comply to ministerial regulations. monitoring for three years.
Kforce Inc.. On November 15, 2023, the DOJ announced a settlement agreement with Kforce Inc. (Kforce), a staffing agency with 36 offices across the United States. The agreement resolves the DOJ’s determination that Kforce discriminated against non-U.S. citizens authorized to work in the United States and excluded them from employment opportunities based on their citizenship status.
The DOJ investigation determined that at least between March 1, 2019 and February 28, 2022, Kforce distributed job postings containing illegal hiring restrictions based on citizenship status or eliminated applicants based on them. of their citizenship status.
Under the terms of the settlement, Kforce will pay $690,000 in civil penalties to the United States and set aside $230,000 to compensate affected workers. The agreement also requires Kforce to train its staff on INA requirements, review its employment policies and comply with ministerial monitoring and reporting requirements.
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Cyrus Mehta was cited by Forbes In Apple Settles $25 Million DOJ Immigrant Lawsuit Regardless of PERM. Mr. Mehta said: “The safest course is for employers to comply as closely as possible with their non-PERM recruiting practices. So, although it is legal for employers to ask applicants to send their resumes only by postal mail under the PERM regulations, if it otherwise allows applicants to send their resumes electronically, the The employer must be consistent and require that candidates, even those responding to PERM recruitment, send their curriculum vitae electronically. He said employers are caught between conflicting requirements from two federal agencies.