Although there are obviously many details yet to come, President-Elect Trump and others have made it clear that U.S. immigration and related issues will be a government focus beginning in January 2025. Businesses and stakeholders should begin now to plan for many of the immigration policies and the general immigration environment that we can expect under the new administration.
For example, although the Biden Administration placed increased focus on immigration enforcement activities, President-Elect Trump has promised more extensive enforcement during his second term. Areas of focused and increased enforcement are likely to include:
- Form I-9 and related employment eligibility verification practices, including any differing state/local E-Verify rules;
- Inspections by USCIS’s Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) division;
- Department of Labor audits and investigations of labor certification (PERM) as well as labor condition application (LCA) compliance;
- Department of Justice focus on discrimination against U.S. workers.
We recommend that businesses and employers be proactive during the coming months by reviewing internal procedures and policies as well as considering internal audits of their practices. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your Dentons immigration contact to learn more about how to best manage compliance and risk within your organization.
A second area of immediate focus for the Trump Administration will likely be the reimplementation of the “no deference” to prior petition approval policy for extensions filed with USCIS, increased issuance of Requests for Evidence (RFEs), and higher standards of review across the board, as well as various travel bans which will bar certain foreign nationals from entering the United States. We do not yet know who will fall within the scope of these travel bans, however, it is expected that the travel ban will be similar to that of the first Trump Administration. In addition, we expect that the Trump Administration will restore the “extreme vetting” policy which requires USCIS and U.S. consulates to perform expansive and sometimes intrusive screening of visa applicants.
Because these changes to travel to the U.S. may be “Day 1” policies of the Trump Administration, we also recommend that businesses and organizations review their projected need for international travelers and seek guidance on how best to navigate these new policies.
We expect this to be the first of several updates regarding the transition of the Trump Administration and will issue subsequent bulletins as we learn more.
Please contact your Dentons attorney if you have any questions regarding the above.
