IMMIGRATION UPDATE – March 2, 2026
HEADLINES
REMINDER: FY 2027 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period Opens March 4 – The registration period for the Fiscal Year 2027 H-1B cap will open at 9:00AM Pacific on Wednesday, March 4 and run through 9:00 AM Pacific on Thursday, March 19, 2026. Any cap matters not yet initiated should be started immediately to ensure filing prior to March 19th. Note that in addition to pre-filing analyses, there are a number of steps required to submit a registration once the portal goes live on the 4th. It often takes a few days to complete the submission. There is no legal or selection advantage to filing earlier in the window, although for peace of mind registrants will prefer submission as soon as permissible.
DOL Proposes Rule on Determining Employee/Independent Contractor Status – The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a proposed rule that would rescind the analysis for determining employee or independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act and replace it with analysis that it published and adopted in a prior final rule.
U.S. Embassies Update Travel Advisories in Middle East in Response to Increased Risks and Armed Conflict – U.S. Embassies have issued new security alerts and updated travel advisories for several countries in response to unrest and armed conflict in the Middle East region. The U.S.-Israeli military operation in Iran and related risks elsewhere in the region are rapidly evolving.
Advocacy Organization Comments on Religious Workers Interim Final Rule – The American Immigration Lawyers Association welcomed the rule and made suggestions.
DHS Proposes Rule on Work Authorization for Asylum Applicants – The Department of Homeland Security is proposing a rule to change filing and eligibility requirements for those requesting work authorization based on a pending asylum application.
March Visa Bulletin Notes Extension of Certain Religious Workers Category – The EB-4 Certain Religious Workers (SR) category is extended until September 30, 2026.
DHS May Arrest and Detain Refugees Who Have Not Applied for LPR Status After One Year – A new memo states that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must locate, arrest, and take into custody refugees who have not yet submitted an adjustment of status application and have not appeared at scheduled interviews or appointments within one year. DHS also “must treat the one-year mark as a mandatory re-vetting point.”
DHS Shutdown Not Expected to Affect Most ICE, CBP, USCIS Operations – The Department of Homeland Security is technically in partial shutdown status, although certain operations are expected to continue, including most activities conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services fee-funded activities are also expected to continue during the shutdown.
USCIS Received Enough Supplemental H-2B Petitions to Reach Cap for Returning Workers – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 18,490 H-2B visas made available under a temporary final rule for the first allocation of returning workers of Fiscal Year 2026 with start dates from January 1 to March 31, 2026.
DHS Terminates TPS for Yemen – The Department of Homeland Security announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Yemen effective 60 days after the date of publication of the notice in the Federal Register.
Appeals Court Allows Termination of TPS for Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a stay pending appeal allowing the Trump administration to move forward with plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status for an estimated 60,000 migrants in the United States, including 50,000 Hondurans, 7,000 Nepalis, and 3,000 Nicaraguans.
OFLC Releases Data on Employers and Selected Program Statistics – The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification has released a comprehensive set of public disclosure data and selected program statistics.
DOS Confirms That China is Not Part of Immigrant Visa Pause – Practitioners alerted the Department of State (DOS) that its Travel Docs site erroneously stated that China was included among dozens of countries for which immigrant visa processing has been paused. DOS subsequently removed the statement from its website.
District Court Grants Stay of DHS Secretary Noem’s Decision to End Haitian TPS; Appeal Likely – A district court granted plaintiffs a stay of Secretary Noem’s decision to end Haitian Temporary Protected Status pending the outcome of litigation.
Congress Scraps Visas for Afghans Who Helped the United States – Congress has approved a package of spending bills that does not authorize any new visas for the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghans who worked with the United States during the war against the Taliban, effectively killing the program.
Fifth Circuit Upholds Trump Administration’s Policy of Detention Without Release on Bond – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the Trump administration’s policy of mandatory detention of thousands of people without the possibility of release on bond for those caught up in the administration’s immigration sweeps in Texas and Louisiana.
Texas Governor Freezes New H-1B Visas for State Agencies and Universities, Launches Investigation – Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced an immediate freeze on new H-1B visas by all state agencies and universities and an investigation into “H-1B visa abuse.”
Group Files Complaint Against ‘Gold Card’ Program – A group, including the American Association of University Professors and others, filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s “Gold Card” visa program.
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.
DETAILS
DOL Proposes Rule on Determining Employee/Independent Contractor Status
On February 27, 2026, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division issued a proposed rule that would rescind the analysis for determining employee or independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and replace it with analysis that it published and adopted in a prior final rule dated January 7, 2021, with a few modifications. DOL also proposes to apply this analysis to the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, which incorporates the FLSA’s scope of employment.
Among other provisions, the proposed rule would include:
- A provision discussing the “economic reality” test for distinguishing FLSA employees from independent contractors, including that the ultimate inquiry of economic dependence turns on whether an individual is in business for him- or herself (independent contractor) or is economically dependent on an employer for work (employee) (DOL is additionally proposing to provide further context on the meaning of economic dependence); and
- Provisions describing factors examined as part of the economic reality test, including two core or primary factors—the nature and degree of the individual’s control over the work and the individual’s opportunity for profit or loss.
DOL said it welcomes comments on the inclusion of additional context on economic dependence into the regulations explaining that “economic dependence for work rather than economic dependence for income is the proper inquiry.” Specifically, DOL has added the following sentences to the end of the proposed § 795.105(b):
Though both employees and independent contractors are dependent on others in some sense, economic dependence in this context means the dependence that a typical employee has on an employer for work, as opposed to an individual who has more of the nature and character of a business owner who has a separate business. Economic dependence does not focus on the amount of income the worker earns, or whether the worker has other sources of income.
Comments on the proposed rule are due by April 28, 2026, via one of the methods provided in the notice.
U.S. Embassies Update Travel Advisories in Middle East in Response to Increased Risks and Armed Conflict
U.S. embassies have issued new security alerts and updated travel advisories for several countries in response to unrest and armed conflict in the Middle East region:
- The U.S. Embassy Virtual Iran announced that due to military operations and other risks, U.S. citizens in Iran are advised to shelter in place throughout the country until further notice. A travel advisory states that “U.S. citizens are at risk due to terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, arbitrary detention of U.S. citizens, torture, and wrongful detention.” U.S. citizens should not travel to Iran for any reason and should leave Iran if they are there. Iran continues to be a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” destination. The Foreign Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran provides emergency services for U.S. citizens. Any U.S. citizens seeking routine services should make an appointment at a U.S. embassy or consulate outside of Iran, the embassy said.
- The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon updated its travel advisory, noting that on February 23, 2026, the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and family members of government personnel due to the security situation in Beirut. The advisory includes a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” warning for Lebanon “due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines, and the risk of armed conflict. Some areas, especially near the borders, have increased risk.” The advisory also mentions blocked roads and other hazards. U.S. Embassy Beirut has suspended routine consular services and advises that “Americans should contact beirutacs@state.gov in case of emergency,” noting that they should “not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation.” Additional information is available on Lebanon’s Country Information page.
- Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. The U.S. Embassy has issued a security alert directing all U.S. government employees and their family members to shelter in place until further notice. U.S. citizens can find additional information regarding steps to take in case of mortar and rocket fire and hostile aircraft intrusion in the Country Information for Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. The latest travel advisory, issued on February 27, 2026, puts Israel at Level 3. The advisory says to “reconsider travel” to Israel and the West Bank, and not to travel to Gaza, Northern Israel, and the Israel-Egypt border region.
- Qatar. The U.S. Embassy in Doha issued a security alert implementing a shelter-in-place order for all personnel countrywide. The embassy said, “We recommend all Americans do the same until further notice.”
The U.S.-Israeli military operation in Iran and related risks elsewhere in the region are rapidly evolving. Travel advisories and security alerts may be updated with little notice and should be monitored. The advisories include additional information, links, and phone numbers for U.S. citizens.
Advocacy Organization Comments on Religious Workers Interim Final Rule
On February 25, 2026, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) submitted comments on an interim final rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that reduces the required time abroad for religious workers.
AILA said it welcomed the rule, which reduces the period of time religious workers must remain outside the United States after exhausting the five-year limit in R-1 nonimmigrant status in order for them to become eligible for a subsequent period of R-1 status. Among its suggestions, AILA recommended that DHS consider allowing a reset of the five-year maximum under any of the following conditions: (1) if a religious worker changes employers, (2) if the religious worker remains with the same employer and departs the United States after having completed the initial 30 months of R-1 status, (3) if there are 6 months or a year remaining on the five year clock, or (4) if a religious worker departs the United States during the last year of the five-year maximum period.
DHS Proposes Rule on Work Authorization for Asylum Applicants
On February 20, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is proposing a rule, “Employment Authorization Reform for Asylum Applicants,” to change filing and eligibility requirements for those requesting work authorization and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) based on a pending asylum application. The rule would take effect 60 days after publication, which is scheduled for February 23, 2026.
The proposed changes, according to the unpublished version, include “pausing acceptance of EAD applications from asylum applicants during periods when affirmative asylum average processing time exceeds 180 days, extending the waiting period to apply for employment authorization to 365 days, changing EAD application processing time requirements, and adding eligibility requirements.” The 365-calendar-day waiting period would begin “on the date of the receipt of a complete asylum application.” DHS also proposes to “pause USCIS’ acceptance of initial Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (EAD application), filings in the [8 CFR 274a.12(c)(8)] category when USCIS’ average processing time for affirmative asylum applications exceeds 180 days.”
Under the proposed rule, DHS would allow those “with pending asylum applications that have not yet been adjudicated and who already have employment authorization before the final rule’s effective date to remain employment authorized until the expiration date on their current EAD, unless the card is terminated or revoked on the grounds specified in regulations in effect when their EAD was issued.” In general, unless otherwise specified, those “who file renewal (c)(8) EAD applications on or after the effective date of the final rule would be subject to the applicable provisions in this proposed rule.”
DHS said that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has more than 1.4 million pending affirmative asylum claims.
March Visa Bulletin Notes Extension of Certain Religious Workers Category
The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for March 2026 notes that the EB-4 Certain Religious Workers (SB) category has been extended:
H.R. 7148, signed on February 3, 2026, extends the Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) category until September 30, 2026. The SR category is subject to the same dates for filing and final action dates as the other Employment Fourth Preference categories per applicable foreign state of chargeability.
DHS May Arrest and Detain Refugees Who Have Not Applied for LPR Status After One Year
On February 18, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memorandum from the directors of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that was filed in a district court case. The memo states that “DHS may arrest and detain a refugee who has lived in the United States for at least one year and has not yet acquired LPR [lawful permanent resident] status.” The memo further states that DHS is required “to take the affirmative actions of locating, arresting, and taking” into custody refugees who have not yet submitted an adjustment of status application and have not appeared at scheduled interviews or appointments within one year.
The memo states that DHS “must treat the one-year mark as a mandatory re-vetting point for all refugees who have not adjusted to LPR status.” The one-year inspection “is not discretionary; it is a required step to determine whether the refugee may remain in the United States as an LPR, should have status terminated, or should be placed into removal proceedings.”
Reaction. Calling the new policy “unlawful” and “based on a contorted reading of immigration law,” the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) said, “The DHS policy of detaining and arresting refugees is a dramatic break with past practices that could impact thousands of refugees who have not yet obtained green cards.” IRAP said the one-year inspection interview “includes not only asking questions to determine whether they are admissible as lawful permanent residents (green card holders) but also revisiting their refugee claim, which refugees have already proven to the U.S. government through a lengthy vetting process.”
DHS Shutdown Not Expected to Affect Most ICE, CBP, USCIS Operations
On February 14, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s funding lapsed due to a breakdown in spending bill negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over how DHS agencies conduct their operations. DHS is therefore technically in partial shutdown status, although certain operations are expected to continue, including most activities conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services fee-funded activities are also expected to continue during the shutdown.
To unblock the funding, Democrats are demanding that Congress impose certain “guardrails” on DHS agencies, such as prohibiting DHS officers from conducting stops, questioning, and searches based on an individual’s presence at certain locations, their job, their spoken language and accent, or their race and ethnicity; requiring officers to use body cameras, remove masks, and display identification; obtaining judicial search warrants before entering homes; and prohibiting funds from being used to conduct enforcement near sensitive locations, including medical facilities, schools, child-care facilities, churches, polling places, and courts.
The partial shutdown is expected to last at least a week, with the caveat that members may be called back to Congress if a viable agreement is reached.
USCIS Received Enough Supplemental H-2B Petitions to Reach Cap for Returning Workers
On February 13, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 18,490 H-2B visas made available under a temporary final rule for the first allocation of returning workers of Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 with start dates from January 1 to March 31, 2026. February 6, 2026, was the final receipt date for petitions requesting supplemental H-2B visas under the first allocation.
USCIS explained that it received more petitions than available H-2B visas for the first allocation. The agency used a computer-generated selection process to allocate the visas without exceeding the first FY 2026 supplemental cap allocation. On February 13, 2026, USCIS conducted this random selection process for petitions received on the first five business days of filing (February 2 through 6, 2026).
DHS Terminates TPS for Yemen
On February 13, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Yemen effective 60 days after the date of publication of the notice in the Federal Register. As of press time, it was unclear when the notice would be published.
TPS Yemen beneficiaries in the United States, estimated to number about 1,380, with no other lawful basis for remaining have 60 days from publication to voluntarily depart the United States. The agency encouraged those leaving the United States to use U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s CBP Home app to report their departure from the United States. The app includes a complimentary plane ticket, a $2,600 exit bonus, and potential future opportunities for legal immigration, DHS said.
Appeals Court Allows Termination of TPS for Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua
On February 9, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a stay pending appeal allowing the Trump administration to move forward with plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an estimated 60,000 migrants in the United States, including 50,000 Hondurans, 7,000 Nepalis, and 3,000 Nicaraguans.
The court said it concluded that “the government is likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal either by showing that the district court lacked jurisdiction or by prevailing on plaintiffs’ arbitrary-and-capricious [Administrative Procedure Act] challenge.”
OFLC Releases Data on Employers and Selected Program Statistics
The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has released a comprehensive set of public disclosure data (through the first quarter of fiscal year 2026) drawn from employer applications requesting prevailing wage determinations and labor certifications for the PERM, LCA (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3), H-2A, H-2B, CW-1, and Prevailing Wage programs. The public disclosure files include all final determinations OFLC issued for these programs during the October 1–December 31, 2025, reporting period of Fiscal Year (FY) 2026.
OFLC has also released selected program statistics for the first quarter of FY 2026 for the PERM, LCA (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3), H-2A, H-2B, CW-1, and Prevailing Wage programs.
DOS Confirms That China is Not Part of Immigrant Visa Pause
According to reports, practitioners alerted the Department of State (DOS) on February 10, 2026, that its Travel Docs site erroneously stated that China was included among dozens of countries for which immigrant visa processing has been paused as of January 21, 2026. DOS subsequently removed the statement from its website.
Countries subject to the pause include Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
District Court Grants Stay of DHS Secretary Noem’s Decision to End Haitian TPS; Appeal Likely
Following a January 28, 2026, ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her statutory authority in her partial vacatur of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation, on February 2, 2026, a district court granted plaintiffs—five Haitian TPS beneficiaries—a stay of Secretary Noem’s decision to end Haitian TPS pending the outcome of litigation.
The court found plaintiffs’ assertion that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants “substantially likely.” Quoting Secretary Noem’s statements to the effect that Haiti and certain other “damn” countries have been “flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,” the court noted that plaintiffs in this case include a neuroscientist, a software engineer, a laboratory assistant, a college economics major, and a full-time registered nurse—far from fitting Secretary Noem’s description. The court also observed that Secretary Noem made the decision to cancel Haitian TPS without consulting with appropriate agencies and ignoring Congress’s requirement that she review conditions in Haiti after such consultations. The court noted that she also downplayed the danger to Haitians of returning to Haiti while the Department of State updated its travel advisory in July 2025 warning U.S. travelers not to go to Haiti due to security risks including “kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care.”
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision.
Congress Scraps Visas for Afghans Who Helped the United States
Last year, after an Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington, DC, killing one, President Trump paused the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program that provided a legal pathway to residence in the United States for Afghans who had worked with the U.S. government and U.S. troops during the long war against the Taliban. Congress has now approved a package of spending bills that does not authorize any new visas for the program, effectively killing it.
“They’re just slamming the door shut,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the top Democrat on the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations. “Stranding vetted SIV applicants or sending Afghan families back into the hands of the Taliban isn’t about security; it’s a betrayal of the promises we made to those who risked their lives for the United States.”
It is unclear if or when visa issuances might be resumed for those with pending applications under the program.
Fifth Circuit Upholds Trump Administration’s Policy of Detention Without Release on Bond
On February 6, 2026, despite numerous rulings by lower courts across the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the Trump administration’s policy of mandatory detention of thousands of people in the court’s jurisdiction (Texas and Louisiana) without the possibility of release on bond for those caught up in the administration’s immigration sweeps.
The court based its ruling on an expanded definition of “applicants for admission,” who can be held without bond while they await decisions in immigration courts, to noncitizens inside the United States, not only those arriving at ports of entry.
Other appeals courts are also expected to decide on similar issues in upcoming weeks.
Texas Governor Freezes New H-1B Visas for State Agencies and Universities, Launches Investigation
On January 27, 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced an immediate freeze on new H-1B visas by all state agencies and universities and an investigation into “H-1B visa abuse.”
In a letter to state agency heads, Gov. Abbott said, “No state agency controlled by a gubernatorially appointed head or public institution of higher education shall, without the written permission of the Texas Workforce Commission, initiate or file any new petition to sponsor a nonimmigrant worker under the federal H-1B visa program until the end of the Texas Legislature’s 90th Regular Session on May 31, 2027.” Although the freeze only affects new applications and thus is not expected to affect current H-1B workers in Texas, Gov. Abbott also ordered the state agency and university heads to provide various pieces of information, including the numbers of H-1B visa holders the entity currently sponsors, and job classifications and descriptions, by March 27, 2026.
Reaction. Although H-1B workers make up a relatively small percentage of the workforces in Texas agencies and universities, some argue that closing that pathway could have a negative impact on several sectors. Jason Finkelman, an immigration attorney in Austin, Texas, said that researchers, professors, physicians, engineers, and others in Texas will be affected. “Those researchers and professors are just going to go to other U.S. universities. So we’re going to lose the talent we need here for universities, which is going to contribute to our downfall as being leaders in … higher education.” He noted that the H-1B visa “is the most regulated visa in our whole immigration system.”
Kathleen Campbell Walker, a past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, objected to the freeze. Among other things, she noted that Texas medical education institutions rely on foreign physicians “to fill critical shortages in healthcare in rural areas of the state as well as in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs).” Ms. Walker warned that “Texas universities will be severely hampered in the current global race for highly talented educators and researchers as well as for physicians at its medical schools.” She noted similar efforts in Florida, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.
Group Files Complaint Against ‘Gold Card’ Program
On February 3, 2026, a group including the American Association of University Professors and others filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s “Gold Card” visa program. The complaint asks a U.S. district court for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Commerce; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; and the heads of those agencies.
The complaint challenges the creation and implementation of the “Gold Card” program “in contravention of Congress’s exclusive authority to regulate immigration and to raise revenue. By giving priority consideration to and awarding visas to individuals who can pay $1 million, rather than to highly talented individuals whose admission would benefit the United States, the program runs counter to the laws enacted by Congress.”
Plaintiffs note that the payment-linked program also “alters how immigrant classifications, including the EB-1A ‘extraordinary ability’ and EB-2 ‘exceptional ability’ preference categories, are defined and how applications are processed” and “causes the displacement of statutorily qualified applicants given the limited number of available visas and the preferential treatment of Gold Card applications.” By treating a payment to the Commerce Department as evidence of statutory eligibility for EB-1 and EB-2 visas, and expediting consideration of applications from individuals who make the payment, the defendants “both exceed their statutory authority and act contrary to long standing laws and policies designed to attract highly talented individuals to the United States,” the complaint states. By conditioning access to the visas on payment, the Gold Card program “allows visas to be bought, and thereby takes visas away from the people to whom federal statute specifies they should be awarded—scientists and engineers, physicians, researchers, and other accomplished individuals whose admission would substantially benefit the United States.”
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.”
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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. The 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.
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
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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.