Month: March 2020

As COVID-19 takes its toll on medical professionals who are putting their health at risk to help those infected and hospitalized with the virus,  there is growing awareness of the importance of immigrants to U.S. health care delivery.

About 27,000 immigrants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status work in health care as doctors, paramedics, nurses, EMTs, medical students etc.  Their fates are swinging in the balance as they wait for a decision from the Supreme Court by June regarding the legality of the administration’s rescission of the DACA program.   Should the Supreme Court uphold the rationale for the rescission, these health care workers will lose their authorization to work and become deportable at a moment when their services have never been more critically needed, as this op-ed explains.   Their importance is so significant that the Supreme Court has been asked to take this impact into consideration as it weighs all the factors in the case.

Additionally, as we’ve noted previously, a significant number of doctors in the U.S. are foreign born.   Our immigration laws raise barriers to deploying them to help address the COVID-19 crisis when and where their expertise is greatly needed.   There is increasing awareness of this problem, as explained in this Vox article and this NPR report.

Many other countries including Canada have streamlined the process for foreign doctors trained in their countries or trained abroad to gain residency and to practice medicine.   The U.S. and Maine already had a growing physician shortage prior to the emergence of COVID-19.   However, the pandemic is laying bare how U.S. immigration laws create obstacles for foreign doctors and work against our nation’s public health interests.

Congress should address these deficiencies in any future COVID-19 relief bill so that DACA health professionals and foreign doctors can do what they do best – work to keep all U.S. residents healthy.

As is well stated in this op-ed by a former Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and summarized in this article in The Hill, USCIS must act to prevent nonimmigrants and other work authorized noncitizens, and the organizations that employ them, from being thrown into chaos by the agency’s office closures and suspensions of service delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While in late March, USCIS belatedly took small steps to  extend certain response and appeal deadlines related to notices and decisions about individual applications issued between March 1 and May 1, 2020, and to reuse previously submitted biometrics (digital fingerprints) needed to process work permit renewal applications, these measures do not go nearly far enough.

USCIS’s office closures and processing delays put those with nonimmigrant visas and work permits at risk of going out of status.  A person who goes out of status for even one day can become completely ineligible to continue in her/his prior legal status, or must leave the U.S. and apply for a new visa at a U.S. consulate abroad – which is currently not possible due to COVID-19 suspensions of visa operations at all U.S. consulates.

USCIS has a variety of existing tools in its arsenal, as outlined in the op-ed, that could compensate for its barriers to and delays in application processing related to its COVID-19 responses, and could inject humanity and provide certainty to legally present noncitizens whose status is at risk of expiring, and to their employers alike.

It’s time for USCIS to go beyond half-measures and take aggressive actions to protect the statuses of these noncitizens automatically for at least a year.

 

The nation’s immigration apparatus, including the Department of State (DOS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the immigration court system (EOIR) has taken dozens of measures in response to the growing reach and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Changes happen virtually daily. Please follow the links below to learn more about just some of the current actions most relevant to Maine that impact not only immigrants, nonimmigrants, and U.S. citizens, but also public health, and business and economic activity.

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DOS changes:

• Routine visa services are suspended at all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad as of March 20, 2020.   All routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa interviews are cancelled until further notice.
• H-2 visas are deemed “essential to the economy and food security” and as a result, as of March 26, 2020,  normally required interviews will be waived for most beneficiaries of H-2A or H-2B visa petitions.
• J-1 International Exchange visa programs that involve travel to or from countries subject to heightened CDC or DOS alert levels are temporarily suspended as of March 17, 2020.
• However, certain J-1 physicians and medical professionals received additional guidance on March 26, 2020.
• DOS advises U.S. citizens and residents to avoid all international travel as of March 19, 2020.  Country specific warnings are here.

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USCIS changes:

• USCIS offices temporarily closed to the public from March 18^th to at least April 7, 2020. This includes USCIS local field offices, asylum offices, application support centers (ASCs) and the few remaining international USCIS offices that serve U.S. citizens living abroad. Updates on office closings in the U.S. and at USCIS offices abroad can be found here.
• USCIS will reuse previously submitted biometrics to process work permit extension applications, for those with biometrics appointments on or after March 18th  who cannot comply with biometrics requests due to ASC office closures , as of March 30, 2020.
• USCIS extends response deadlines by 60 days for replies to certain requests for evidence or notices of intent to deny or revoke or terminate, or certain appeals of decisions  issued between March 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020.
• USCIS states testing, preventive care and treatment for COVID-19 will not trigger “public charge” problems for immigrants (in an effort to ensure that immigrants will not be afraid to seek appropriate COVID-19 healthcare). This statement is as of March 13, 2020.
• E-Verify extends timeframes for employers to act on tentative nonconfirmations.
• USCIS relaxes “wet signature” requirements on certain applications, accepting electronically reproduced signatures on submissions dated March 21, 2020 or later, although the documents with original signatures will eventually need to be supplied.
• Premium processing is suspended of all new employment-based nonimmigrant (E-1, E-2, H-1B, H-2B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, R-1, TN-1 and TN-2) form I-129 visa petitions or immigrant form I-140 visa petitions as of March 20, 2020.

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 ICE changes:

• Form I-9 requirement of in-person review of work authorization documents is being temporarily relaxed for new employees being on-boarded who will be working remotely due to COVID-19.   Read the notice for the specifics of which employers ICE will allow to take advantage of this temporary flexibility.
• ICE states enforcement actions will not take place at medical facilities (in an effort to ensure that immigrants will not be afraid to seek COVID-19 related preventive care or treatment). This statement is as of March 15, 2020.
• ICE issues FAQs for management of international student issues by SEVP-certified educational institutions were updated as of March 27, 2020 and are available here.

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CBP changes: 

• CBP announces arrival or entry restrictions into the U.S. for those coming through:
  • land ports of entry along the Canadian-US border from March 20—April 20, 202.;
  • land ports of entry along the Mexican-US border from March 20—April 20, 2020.
  • all but specified airports who have traveled from or had recent presence in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, as of March 17, 2020.
  • all but specified airports who have traveled from or had recent presence in the Schengen Area countries, as of March 14, 2020.
  • all but specified airports who have traveled from or had recent presence in China or Iran, as of February 2, 2020 and March 2, 2020, respectively.
• CBP temporarily suspends operations at Trusted Traveller enrollment centers nationwide, affecting enrollment by U.S. travelers in Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST programs, effective on March 18, 2020 until at least May 1, 2020.
  

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  DOL changes:

• DOL and USDA to share information, to assist H-2A employers whose workforce arrivals have been delayed due to travel restrictions, of nearly 20,000 H-2A and H-2B workers with expiring contracts who might be available to transfer to different employers’ labor certification applications, as of March 19, 2020.
• The Office of Foreign Labor Certification advised about processing changes related to labor certification applications that will be in effect from March 25^th to at least June 30, 2020.

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EOIR changes:

• All immigration court hearings scheduled through May 1, 2020 are suspended for non-detained immigrants (such as many asylum seekers in Maine).

The Corona Virus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, H.R. 748, was enacted on March 27, 2020. Despite immigrants’ importance to the U.S. workforce and economy, millions will get no direct financial assistance from the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill – neither the cash “Recovery Rebates” of up to $1200 per individual or $2400 per couple under certain income limits, nor the expanded federal COVID-19 unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to workers whose jobs and incomes have disappeared as a result of the pandemic.

The Recovery Rebates will only be issued to individuals with Social Security numbers. Many U.S. citizens and permanent residents are married to immigrants who do not yet have Social Security numbers, and the law specifically states that no rebate will be issued unless both spouses have Social Security numbers. Additionally, many work-authorized nonimmigrants, asylum seekers, and others with Social Security numbers who are not yet permanent residents will be excluded from the Rebates.

Undocumented workers, including those critical to many sectors of the U.S. economy such as essential workers in agriculture and health and eldercare, who often pay taxes with taxpayer identification numbers, also are excluded from the both the Recovery Rebates and the expanded UI benefits.

Immigrants, regardless of legal status, are impacted by COVID-19’s effects. Failure to include many of them in the CARES Act not only jeopardizes their and their families’ health and safety, but also harms the communities in which they live, as this article outlines.

In any future relief legislation, Congress should include all immigrants, regardless of status. COVID-19’s effects have no regard for national origin or immigration status.   The nation’s public health and economic responses shouldn’t either.

Employers who use the E-Verify electronic employment authorization verification system should be sure to inform themselves of temporary changes in implementation policies due to COVID-19.

Recent changes can be found here.

Many U.S. physicians are individuals from other countries who pursued their medical degrees and residencies here.   Many continue to practice in the U.S. after completing their education and training by obtaining H-1B visas for skilled professionals.

However, these visas are extremely restrictive, allowing doctors to work only where specified in the visa petitions filed by their employers on the doctors’ behalves. This prevents these doctors from being deployed to hospitals or other settings where they could be needed as part of the public health response to COVID-19, if those hospitals were not specified in their visa petitions.

This article in Bloomberg Law explains the problem, and the need for action to introduce flexibility into the H-1B visa program so that these critically needed doctors can assist where needed without restriction.

UPDATE:  On May 14, 2020, the administration announced that the temporary change noted below that was due to expire on May 19th regarding I-9 form completion is being extended an additional 30 days.  Further 30 day extensions were granted, through August 19, 2020.

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For employers that have transitioned their employees to working remotely due to COVID-19,   Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced a temporary relaxation of the requirement for in-person inspection of work authorization documents when completing the I-9 form during onboarding of new employees who will be working remotely.   Employers will still need to see the employees’ documents transmitted electronically, and attach copies to the I-9 form.

Additionally, once the workplace resumes normal operations, the employee must present the original work authorization documents to the employer.

See the details, including specifics about which employers can take advantage of this temporary change, here, and guidance from the Society for Human Resource Management here.

L.D. 647, An Act To Attract, Educate and Retain New State Residents To Strengthen the Workforce,  MeBIC’s highest legislative priority during this state legislative session, made good progress in early March.

MeBIC and partners proposed that at least $475,000 be earmarked for sections 2,3, and 5 of the bill in the supplemental budget’s line for workforce development-related adult education funding.   MeBIC was gratified when the  Education and Cultural Affairs Committee and the Innovation, Development and Economic Advancement Committee both supported that recommendation in their budget reports to the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee.

Only days later, the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic descended on the State House, appropriately prompting revised revenue forecasts and a substantially revised supplemental budget.   Funds for workforce development-related adult education programming were cut in half, with no specific recommendations for how they would be spent, in the supplemental budget enacted by the Legislature prior to its early adjournment.

MeBIC will continue to work for funding for L.D. 647 if the Legislature returns for a special session after the COVID-19 crisis wanes.  In the meantime, MeBIC is advocating with the Department of Education to stress the continued importance of directing adult education funding to increasing capacity to educate the English language learners who are so critical for Maine’s vibrant communities and workforce.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that qualified Somalis can reregister for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from March 11 through May 11, 2020.  As announced previously, TPS for citizens of Somalia is being extended until September 17, 2021.

Work permits for most Somalis who currently have TPS or have prior reregistration applications pending are automatically extended through September 13, 2020 as long as reregistration is completed by May 11th.  Employers and TPS re-registrants can find more information about automatic employment authorization extensions on the USCIS Somali TPS page.   Automatic extensions are necessary because of USCIS delays in processing TPS work permit applications.  Once granted, Somali TPS work permits will be valid through September 17, 2021.

TPS is offered when the U.S. government determines that civil conflict or natural disaster has created conditions making it inadvisable for citizens of the designated countries who are already in the U.S. at the moment of the TPS designation to return to their home countries. Individuals with TPS are allowed to stay and work in the U.S. legally during the TPS period.  Somalia was first designated for TPS  in 1991, and was most recently re-designated in 2012.

UPDATES: 

• As of March 9, 2020, DHS had not provided notice of releasing the 35,000 additional visas, but the Office of Foreign Labor Certification issued a FAQs on March 9, 2020 regarding issues raised by the Department of Homeland Security’s May 5, 2020 announcement.  Scroll down on this page to find the March 9, 2020 FAQs.
• On March 20, 2020, Department of State (DOS) announced it would suspend all routine visa processing at U.S. Consulates abroad.
• On March 26, 2020,  recognizing the importance of the H-2 visa programs to U.S. employers, DOS announced that it would waive visa interviews for most beneficiaries of approved H-2A and H-2B visa petitions so that visa issuance could continue despite most U.S. consulates being closed to the public.
• The Department of Labor and USDA announced an information sharing initiative to identify H-2A and H-2B workers whose current positions are ending who might be able to transfer to other employers’ labor certifications to fill seasonal positions starting in the second half of FY 2020.

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On March 5, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will release 35,000 more H-2B visas beyond the 33,000 cap for the second half of FY 2020, for positions for seasonal non-agricultural workers with start dates between April 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020.

The visas were authorized by Congress in the omnibus budget bill enacted in December 2019.  However, Congress authorized over 69,000 additional visas.  It is disappointing that DHS is releasing barely half of that number, falling far short of the need, as has happened for the last several years.

In addition, the additional H-2B visas are accompanied by new conditions and constraints:

• • The visas will be released in two batches:  20,000 for positions beginning April 1st, and 15,000 for positions beginning  May 15th;
  • 10,000 visas will be reserved for seasonal workers coming from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, ostensibly to stem the flow of persons arriving at the southern border without visas;
  • The visas will be generally limited to returning H-2B workers;
  • The start date on the H-2B petition and the employer’s start date of need will be required to coincide exactly.

Also, on March 6, 2020, DHS published a notice formalizing that effective immediately, “a printed copy of the electronic final determination form granting temporary labor certification under the H–2B program through the U.S. Department of Labor’s new Foreign Labor Application Gateway system must be submitted with an H–2B petition as evidence of an original approved temporary labor certification.”

Once again, the limited number of additional H-2B visas, coupled with the additional conditions, will result in the H-2B program failing to meet the seasonal hiring needs of Maine’s employers.    Congress needs to get to work and accomplish immigration reform.

On March 3, 2020, Hancock County Commissioners were asked to consent to refugee resettlement.  After considering testimony from community members and MeBIC, as well as letters from Catholic Charities Maine (CCM), the state’s only refugee refugee resettlement agency, and others, the commissioners voted unanimously to welcome refugees in the unorganized territories under its jurisdiction.

Various Maine counties have been asked to consider this question due to an Executive Order (E.O.) purporting to give states and localities veto power over refugee resettlement, even though CCM has never resettled refugees in those counties and has no plans to do so.  That E.O. is currently enjoined, but the Hancock County Commissioners were asked to proactively address the issue regardless of the ultimate outcome of the litigation challenging the E.O.’s legality.

MeBIC testified in support of sending a message of welcome, given that Hancock County’s population has far more residents over age 65 than under 18 (24.6% versus 17.1%, respectively, in 2018), and needs more working age adults and families, regardless of their origins and immigration status.   MeBIC also pointed out studies finding that refugees have higher workforce participation than native born U.S. citizens, are entrepreneurial, and that even if they receive federal assistance when they first arrive, within 10 years they have paid more in taxes than they ever received in public benefits.

For vibrant communities and a strong economy, MeBIC pointed out, all Maine counties should telegraph that they welcome immigrants and refugees.  Hancock County Commissioners made a smart economic decision when they did just that.

A report about the Commissioners’ vote in the Bangor Daily News can be found here, and another report from WGME is here.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that qualified Yemenis can reregister for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from March 2 through May 1, 2020.  As announced previously, TPS for citizens of Yemen is being extended from March 4, 2020 through September 3, 2021.

Work permits for most Yemenis who currently have TPS or have prior reregistration applications pending are automatically extended through August 30, 2020 as long as reregistration is completed by May 1st.  Employers and TPS re-registrants can find more information about automatic employment authorization extensions on the USCIS Yemen TPS page.   Automatic extensions are necessary because of USCIS delays in processing TPS work permit applications.  Once granted, Yemeni TPS work permits will be valid through September 3, 2021.

TPS is offered when the U.S. government determines that civil conflict or natural disaster has created conditions making it inadvisable for citizens of the designated countries who are already in the U.S. at the moment of the TPS designation to return to their home countries. Individuals with TPS are allowed to stay and work in the U.S. legally during the TPS period.  Yemen was first designated for TPS in 2015, and was re-designated in 2017.

 

As we’ve written previously, Canada has similar demographics to the U.S. – an aging population and low birthrates.  However, Canada’s immigration response in recent years has diverged sharply from the U.S’s approach.  While the U.S. has taken multiple steps in recent years resulting in reduced legal immigration, in contrast, Canada has actively liberalized its immigration policies to attract more immigrants.

Canada’s approach appears to be paying off.  The Wall Street Journal reports that Canada’s rate of population growth is outpacing all the other G7 countries, and its economy expanded by 1.5% in 2019, second in the G7 only to the U.S.  As the article  notes,

Canada’s labor force grew 2% last year according to data from the OECD, faster than the U.S. and Japan….. Most of that was fueled by population growth, about 80% of which comes from immigration.

The growing head count, in turn, has supported growth in consumer spending and a rebound in home sales and prices that began during the second half of last year. That helped Canada overcome a sharp slowdown in trade, muted business investment and a cooling global economy last year.

While Canada experienced an economic slowdown in 2019 compared to the pace of its economy from 2010-2018, without immigration, the scenario would have been worse.  As one economist stated, immigration isn’t  “just the main game in town, it’s the only game in town.”

You can find the article here.