Legislative Updates

• The U.S. House passed the Secure the Border Act by a vote of 219-213. The bill was largely supported by Republicans and opposed by Democrats. It includes provisions to restart construction of a wall on the southern border and allocates funds for technology upgrades for border operations. Changes to the standard for credible fear interviews are included in the legislation and the bill also restricts the administration’s parole authority.
• Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) introduced bipartisan legislation resembling the operations of Title 42, giving the Biden administration a two-year temporary expulsion authority over migrants attempting to illegally enter the United States without inspection or proper documents.
• Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act and Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas-20) introduced a companion bill in the House.

IT Consulting Company Pays $9.9 Million to Settle B-1 vs. H-1B Visa Dispute

• The U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Carolina announced that Larsen & Toubro Technology Services (LTTS) agreed to pay $9,928,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act between 2014 and 2019 by obtaining B-1 visas rather than H-1B visas, thus underpaying visa fees owed to the U.S. government
• LTTS, a company based in India with an office in New Jersey, provides personnel to U.S. companies, most of whom are foreign nationals
• B-1 visa holders generally cannot perform work while in the United States.

ICE Gives Employers 30 Days to Become Compliant After COVID-related I-9 Flexibilities Expire

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that employers have until Aug. 30, 2023, to make compliant the I-9s they completed pursuant to the Form I-9 COVID-19 flexibilities. In order to bring the virtual I-9s into compliance, employers must complete in-person reviews of the documents it previously reviewed virtually.
• In March 2020, ICE said it would defer the in-person documentation review of Form I-9 documents, allowing employers to virtually review identification and employment authorization documents for employees who were working remotely due to COVID at the time of hire.
• In October 2022, ICE announced that the Form I-9 COVID-19 flexibilities would expire on July 31, 2023.

DHS and State Department Announce Additional Border Measures

• To address the expected increase of migration to the U.S. southern border, the Department of Homeland Security and State Department announced additional processing centers, U.S. military troop support for the Border Patrol, detention center expansion, improvements to the CBP One App (for asylum application appointments), new rules to encourage using lawful immigration options, and advertising campaigns to counteract misinformation about immigrating to the United States.