IMMIGRATION UPDATE – January 28, 2026
HEADLINES
Know Your Rights –A new California law, the California Workplace Know Your Rights Act (SB 294), requires all employers to provide employees with a Know Your Rights advisory, covering workplace protections ranging from immigration-related rights to constitutional protections during law-enforcement interactions. The law is effective February 1, 2026.
WHD Releases Info on ‘Project Firewall’ Enforcement Initiative to Maximize Compliance with H-1B Visa Program – The announcement notes that the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division prioritizes investigations where employers may be displacing U.S. workers, failing to recruit U.S. workers in good faith, giving preference to H-1B workers when qualified U.S. workers are available, retaliating against workers who raise concerns about employers’ noncompliance, or misrepresenting job duties, requirements, or working conditions.
Federal Judge rules the U.S. government cannot arrest or deport international students simply for exercising their free-speech rights – In American Association of University Professors (AAUP) v. Rubio, Judge William Young formally ruled that international students in the U.S. have the same First Amendment protections as citizens, stating that the Constitution “unequivocally” guarantees their right to free speech. Court documents revealed that deportations had been personally approved by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio based on memos describing students’ political activity.
Leaked ICE Memo asserts ICE agents may forcibly enter private homes to carry out immigration arrests without a judicial warrant – A leaked internal memo from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), signed in May 2025 by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, asserts that ICE agents may forcibly enter private homes to carry out immigration arrests without a judicial warrant, relying only on administrative warrants (Form I‑205).
USCIS Releases Guidance on ‘Hold and Release’ Policies and Procedures – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released memoranda on “hold and release” policies and procedures for all pending asylum applications, USCIS benefit applications filed by individuals from “high-risk” countries, and Diversity Visa adjustment-of-status applications.
February Visa Bulletin Notes Imminent Expiration of ‘Certain Religious Workers’ Category – The Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers category is scheduled to expire on January 30, 2026.
DHS Increases Self-Deportation ‘Exit Bonus’ – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has temporarily increased the “exit bonus” for self-deportation through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home app from $1,000 to $2,600.
DETAILS
Know Your Rights
A new California law, the California Workplace Know Your Rights Act (SB 294), requires all employers to provide employees with a Know Your Rights advisory, covering workplace protections ranging from immigration-related rights to constitutional protections during law-enforcement interactions. The California Labor Commissioner has published a model notice available in English and Spanish.
California employers must provide the stand-alone notice to all current employees on or before February 1, 2026; all new hires on or after February 1, 2026; and to all employees annually thereafter. The notice may be delivered to employees via hard copy, or digitally (email or text) as long as it is reasonable to expect the employee will receive it within one business day.
Additionally, by March 30, 2026 every worker must be given the opportunity to provide or update emergency contact information annually. Employees can also indicate whether they want that contact notified if they are arrested or detained at work. If the employer becomes aware of such an event, they must follow through and notify the chosen contact.
As noted by the San Diego Employers Association, “this update recognizes that moments of crisis shouldn’t leave anyone isolated. It also gives employers a clear, compassionate process to follow.”
Additional Resources
A number of organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (English and Spanish), the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the Asian Law Caucus, have published resources highlighting immigrants’ rights in the United States, including “know your rights” information and what documents they may want to carry when traveling inside the United States. The ACLU of Northern California has also released Know Your Rights: U.S. Airports and Ports of Entry.
WHD Releases Info on ‘Project Firewall’ Enforcement Initiative to Maximize Compliance with H-1B Visa Program
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently released an announcement and a flyer on “Project Firewall,” a WHD “enforcement initiative to protect highly skilled U.S. workers and maximize compliance with the H-1B visa program.”
The announcement notes that WHD prioritizes investigations where employers may be displacing U.S. workers, failing to recruit U.S. workers in good faith, giving preference to H-1B workers when qualified U.S. workers are available, retaliating against workers who raise concerns about employers’ noncompliance, or misrepresenting job duties, requirements, or working conditions.
The flyer includes the following reminders about legal protections for U.S. workers under the H-1B program.
All H-1B employers:
- MUST provide notice of the Labor Condition Application to relevant U.S. workers on or before the date of filing.
- MUST NOT intimidate, threaten, restrain, coerce, blacklist, discharge, or discriminate in any other manner against a U.S. worker or applicant who has exercised whistleblower rights under the program.
- MUST NOT employ an H-1B worker at a worksite where a strike/lockout in their occupational classification is in progress.
- MUST NOT employ H-1B workers in such a way that the working conditions (e.g., hours, shifts, vacation periods, and seniority-based preferences) of its similarly employed U.S. workers are adversely affected.
- MUST NOT undercut U.S. worker wages by paying H-1B workers less than an applicable collectively bargained wage, a statistically derived prevailing wage, or the wage it pays to U.S. workers with the same job and with similar experience and qualifications.
- MUST NOT undercut U.S. worker benefits by offering H-1B workers fewer benefits than U.S. workers.
H-1B dependent employers and willful violators who employ nonexempt H-1B workers:
- MUST take good faith steps to recruit U.S. workers for the offered job.
- MUST offer the job to an equally or better-qualified U.S. worker before hiring an H-1B worker.
- MUST NOT lay off or displace the U.S. worker from a job that is essentially equivalent to the job for which the H-1B worker is sought.
An employer is H-1B dependent if it employs:
- 25 or fewer FTEs and 8 or more are H-1B workers
- 26 to 50 FTEs and 13 or more are H-1B workers
- 51 or more FTEs and 15% or more are H-1B workers
Federal Judge rules the U.S. government cannot arrest or deport international students simply for exercising their free-speech rights
In a January 22, 2026 Order in American Association of University Professors (AAUP) v. Rubio, Boston Federal Judge William G. Young formally ruled that the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting non‑citizen students and academics for their pro‑Palestinian advocacy violated the First Amendment. The final ruling struck down the administration’s ideological‑based deportation policy as unconstitutional and created strong protections preventing retaliation against international students and academics for their speech.
The court held that:
- Non‑citizens lawfully present in the U.S. have the same free‑speech rights as citizens.
- The administration’s deportation policy was “viewpoint discriminatory,” unlawful, and intentionally designed to chill protected speech.
- The policy was declared void and set aside under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Any change in immigration status for AAUP or MESA members during the case is presumed to be retaliatory, unless the government proves otherwise with clear and convincing evidence.
See Judge warns Trump administration against changing immigration status of plaintiffs in case.
Leaked ICE Memo asserts ICE agents may forcibly enter private homes to carry our immigration arrests without a judicial warrant
A leaked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) internal memo —signed in May 2025 by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons—asserts that ICE agents may forcibly enter private homes to carry out immigration arrests without a judicial warrant, relying only on administrative warrants (Form I‑205). The memo asserts that Fourth Amendment protections don’t apply to administrative warrants for arrest which are based on final removal orders signed by an immigration judge (who is an executive official within DHS, not an independent federal judge). The memo concludes that final orders of removal constitute probable cause for entry to the home.
The memo instructs ICE agents to knock and announce, then use only the “necessary and reasonable amount of force” to enter if the occupant refuses entry.
The memo acknowledges that historically ICE has not relied solely on administrative warrants for residential arrests, but asserts that DHS attorneys now interpret the Constitution and immigration statutes as permitting this practice. Most legal experts emphasize that administrative warrants do not meet Fourth Amendment standards, which require a judicial warrant issued by a neutral, detached magistrate to enter a home—something immigration officials are not.
Courts have long held that the government may not enter a private residence without: (1) a judicial warrant, (2) consent, or (3) exigent circumstances—none of which apply to routine immigration arrests. Scholars and civil‑rights groups warn the memo represents a major constitutional breach, effectively allowing the executive branch to authorize its own home‑entry powers without external judicial oversight.
Whistleblowers say the memo was not widely circulated within ICE, but its contents have been taught verbally during ICE’s rapid expansion and training of thousands of new agents. Written training materials still state that administrative warrants do not authorize home entry. Reports indicate that ICE agents have already begun applying this policy in some regions, prompting congressional inquiries and demands for hearings.
See Memo tells ICE officers they can enter homes without a warrant | AP News
USCIS Releases Guidance on ‘Hold and Release’ Policies and Procedures
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released memoranda on “hold and release” policies and procedures for all pending asylum applications, USCIS benefit applications filed by individuals from “high-risk” countries, and Diversity Visa adjustment-of-status applications. The memoranda include:
- Hold and Release of All Pending Asylum Applications and All USCIS Benefit Applications Filed by Aliens From High-Risk Countries (PM-602-0194). This guidance outlines the adjudicative hold, procedural requirements, and processes for the re-review, interview, or re-interview of affected individuals. The memo specifies which cases are subject to the adjudicative hold, identifies exemptions, and outlines the factors to consider when assessing benefit eligibility during the re-review, interview, or re-interview of affected individuals. USCIS personnel are instructed to prioritize national security and public safety concerns and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations during the adjudication process.
- Hold and Release of Pending USCIS Adjustment of Status Applications Filed by Aliens Under the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. This directive mandates that all persons with pending adjustment of status, ancillary benefits, and waiver applications meeting certain criteria undergo a thorough review process, including an interview for the Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485) and, if necessary, a re-interview, to fully assess all national security, criminal, and related grounds of inadmissibility and deportation.
February Visa Bulletin Notes Imminent Expiration of ‘Certain Religious Workers’ Category
The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for February 2026 notes that the Employment-Based Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) category is scheduled to expire on January 30, 2026.
The bulletin states that the SR category is listed as “Unavailable” for all countries for February. If legislative action extends the category, “it is likely it will become available effective immediately. If extended, the category will be subject to the same dates for filing and final action dates as the other Employment Fourth Preference categories per applicable foreign state of chargeability,” the bulletin notes.
DHS Increases Self-Deportation ‘Exit Bonus’
On January 21, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it has temporarily increased the “exit bonus” for self-deportation through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home app from $1,000 to $2,600, in addition to a free flight home.
DHS said that since January 2025, 2.2 million people have voluntarily self-deported and “tens of thousands” have used the CBP Home app. DHS noted that using the CBP Home app “also qualifies recipients for forgiveness of any civil fines or penalties for failing to depart the country.”
It is unclear how long the increase will be in effect. The announcement said it “may not last long”.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PUBLICATIONS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST
Know your rights. A number of organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (English and Spanish), the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the Asian Law Caucus, have published resources highlighting immigrants’ rights in the United States, including “know your rights” information and what documents they may want to carry when traveling inside the United States. ACLU of Northern California has also released Know Your Rights: U.S. Airports and Ports of Entry.
See also Information for Employers — “What to Do if Immigration Comes to Your Workplace” : NELP_EmployerGuide_Eng_2025_Final-.pdf. Note the important distinction between administrative and judicial warrants, and a public lobby versus private areas of a business.
IMMIGRATION AGENCY INFORMATION/PROCESSING TIMES
U.S. Customs and Border Protection:
Accessing I-94 Information: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home
Department of Labor:
PERM and Prevailing Wage Processing Times: https://flag.dol.gov/processingtimes
State Department:
Visa Appointment Wait Times: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html
Monthly Immigrant Visa Bulletin: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
Processing Times: https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/
Case Status Online: https://egov.uscis.gov/
GOVERNMENT ENGAGEMENTS
E-Verify webinars: E-Verify has added a webinar with a focus on acceptable documents for Form I-9 verification, and has updated its calendar of webinars.
SAVE webinars: Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) has updated its calendar of webinars.
Immigration agency X (formerly Twitter) accounts:
- EOIR: @DOJ_EOIR
- ICE: @ICEgov
- Study in the States: @StudyinStates
- USCIS: @USCIS
Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers: ABIL is available on X (formerly Twitter): @ABILImmigration
_________________________________________________________________________
This information was prepared in collaboration with ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, comprised of twenty U.S. immigration lawyers who head some of the top immigration practices in the country. Larrabee Albi Coker LLP is an active member of ABIL.
Legal Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not substitute for legal advice based on the circumstances of a specific matter.