Employment Based

The enforcement of immigration laws is a complex and hotly-debated topic. Learn more about the costs of immigration enforcement and the ways in which the U.S. can enforce our immigration laws humanely and in a manner that ensures due process.

Recent Features

  • Litigation

USCIS’ Unlawful Denial of H-1B Petitions Spurs Class Action Lawsuit

This nationwide class action lawsuit challenges U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ pattern and practice of arbitrarily denying H-1B nonimmigrant employment-based petitions for market research analyst positions filed by United States businesses.  

  • Fact Sheet

The Rules for Immigrants Wanting to Work in the United States on a Permanent Basis

This fact sheet defines the various components of the permanent, employment-based immigration system—and then describes how those components relate to each other in the application processes for each of the five preference categories.

All Employment Based Content

  • Blog

Sick From Eating That Salad? Blame Trump’s Immigration Policies

December 18, 2018

In 2018 alone, the Center for Disease Control has been called to investigate 24 instances of foodborne disease outbreaks, marking the highest number of investigations since 2006. These recent...

  • Blog

USCIS’ Proposed H1-B Registration Rule Creates More Uncertainty for Employers

December 7, 2018

Just months short of the normal starting date for the annual H-1B petition process, USCIS has proposed major changes. U.S. employers who rely on this visa category, which is for jobs that require...

  • Blog

New Census Data Show Immigrants Complement Natives in the US Workforce

September 20, 2018

Every year, the Census Bureau releases new data from its American Community Survey (ACS), which contains a wealth of information about the characteristics of the U.S. population. Without fail,...

  • Blog

How Experts Are Addressing Immigrant Underemployment and Why it Matters

August 22, 2018

Many immigrants bring advanced expertise when they come to the United States, but those skills are often underutilized. Due to a range of complex factors, such as professional credentialing and...

  • Blog

American Companies Should Be Able to Hire Foreign Seasonal Workers – Trump’s Businesses Do

July 13, 2018

Kitchens, restaurants, and housekeeping departments in high-end resorts are often staffed with foreign seasonal workers, who arrive into the United States during peak vacation months. American...

  • Blog

Ohio Worksite Immigration Raid Ignores the Impact on the Local Community

June 8, 2018

More than 100 workers were arrested at a gardening and landscaping company in northern Ohio on Wednesday, marking another massive employment crackdown under the Trump administration. This raid...

  • Blog

Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Oppose Revoking Work Authorization for Spouses of H1-B Holders

May 23, 2018

In a rare show of bipartisanship, 130 members of Congress sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirsten Nielsen urging her to maintain the current regulation granting...

  • Blog

Immigrants Create Jobs for American Workers, Boosting the U.S. Employment Rate

May 22, 2018

When immigrants bring their skills to the U.S. labor market, everyone—immigrants and native-born workers alike—benefit from their company. Research has repeatedly shown that native-born workers...

  • Blog

Is USCIS Exceeding Its Authority as It Attempts to Restrict “Specialty Occupation” Workers?

May 10, 2018

As U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) begins adjudicating H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 “cap,”—the annual limit on the number of visas that will be made...

  • Blog

Delays in the Increase of Seasonal Worker Visas May Prove Too Late for Certain Industries

May 7, 2018

Failure to get H-2B (seasonal worker) visas approved has put Maryland’s seafood industry in jeopardy. Almost half of the Eastern Shore’s crab houses do not have workers they need to pick the meat...

  • Practice Advisories

Agency Delay Litigation: Opposing a Motion to Dismiss

October 4, 2019
This practice advisory summarizes the most common grounds raised by the government in motions to dismiss federal court agency adjudication delay lawsuits and outlines arguments, with supporting authority, that can be made in response.
  • Blog

USCIS Implemented New H-1B Wage Level Policy Without Providing Sufficient Guidance to Its Staff

October 1, 2019

Newly released documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rolled out a major policy change impacting petitions for...

  • Blog

US Visa Policies Prevent Tech Startups From Hiring Foreign Workers

September 17, 2019

Tech startups are engines of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Yet U.S. visa policies may be preventing startups from hiring the highly skilled foreign professionals they need to...

  • Blog

USCIS Visa Petition Denials on the Rise

August 16, 2019

Legal immigration channels to the United States are continuing to suffer under the Trump administration. These restrictions are having an effect on employment-based immigration—particularly...

  • Advocacy

Statement for the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship Hearing “Policy Changes and Processing Delays at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.”

July 16, 2019
The statement highlights the Council’s concerns regarding systemic U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services delays in responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
  • Litigation

U.S. Employer Challenges USCIS “Not a Specialty Occupation” H-1B Petition Denial That Overlooked Web Developer’s Specialized and Complex Duties

As U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to scrutinize and reject meritorious H-1B petitions, one emerging pattern is its rejection of petitions for entry level positions. We've sued.
  • Litigation

U.S. Employer Challenges USCIS "Not a Specialty Occupation" H-1B Petition Denial of Market Research Analyst Job

In denying the petition, USCIS disregarded substantial evidence that the employer requires a bachelor's or higher degree in a "specific specialty" because of the complexity and specialized nature of the job duties.
  • Blog

30,000 More Seasonal Worker Visas to Become Available After a Bipartisan Push

April 19, 2019

In a welcome immigration-related development, the Trump administration has proposed increasing the annual allotment of H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers. As employers have long...

  • Blog

Why It’s Critical to Take a Closer Look at Foreign-Worker Petitions Data

April 11, 2019

American businesses rely on foreign-born workers in many industries and the country’s immigration system has channels specifically dedicated to employment-based immigration. The Trump...

  • FOIA Litigation

Lawsuit Demands Response to FOIAs Seeking Data About Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Adjudications

With the data sought through the requests, the Council hopes to better understand USCIS’ adjudication of employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant petitions and how the adjudication process has evolved over multiple years.

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