Legal Updates Archive

The Department of State's Visa Bulletin for April 2025 reports that increased demand and number use by China and India in the EB-5 unreserved immigrant investor green card category, combined with increased Rest of World demand and number use, has made it necessary to retrogress the final action dates.

The Trump administration has said it plans to expand arrests and deportations based on foreign policy grounds.

In January 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) under the Biden administration issued non-binding guidance for using employer-provided paid leave during overlapping state paid family leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

On March 24, 2025, the Department of Labor released an update that affects H-2A and H-2B employers.

Following the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s March 2, 2025, announcement, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has issued an interim final rule removing the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act.

On March 26, 2025, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 80 entities to the Entity List, including 54 from China and about two dozen from Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Africa and Iran.

The Council on Environmental Quality has announced plans to revoke its National Environmental Policy Act regulations following a recent court decision that found CEQ lacked the authority to issue them.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a divided opinion on March 4, 2025, that reversed a Ninth Circuit decision upholding a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued to San Francisco for its combined sewer system treatment facility.

A split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit addressed a dispute over an Air Tour Management Plan developed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Park Service (NPS) which governs commercial tourist flights over four national parks near San Francisco, California. The Marin Audubon Society and other environmental groups challenged the Plan, arguing that the agencies failed to comply with regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) implementing NEPA.

On January 29, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed Lee Zeldin as the new EPA administrator with a 56-42 vote, including support from three Democratic senators. Zeldin, a Republican, served in the New York State Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives before running unsuccessfully for New York governor in 2022.

On February 25, 2025, Judge Tunheim of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota issued an order denying the Cookware Sustainability Alliance’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

On March 2, 2025, President Trump signed executive orders confirming that the 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports (10% on Canadian energy and energy resources) would not be further paused and would take effect on March 4, 2025.

On February 25 and 26, 2025, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) provided a “mid-point update” on its environmental justice/cumulative impacts rulemaking efforts. The next day, Administrative Law Judge Jessica Palmer-Denig presided over a hearing on MPCA’s proposed air toxics emissions reporting rule and its proposed repeal of the emergency affirmative defense for air permittees.

When economic headwinds sour a promising loan deal, lenders face the challenge of borrower default. This article explores key loan agreement provisions and elements in a default notice letter that protect lenders in such situations.

It seems like everyone has something to say about how Generation Z is starkly different from other generations. It should therefore come as no surprise that Gen Z banks differently, and institutions must react and engage appropriately if they wish to attract this key population as customers. 

There have already been a number of articles and several continuing legal education webinars discussing the November 2024 election results and the change in leadership of various agencies. In most cases, the articles also discuss what impact the leadership change might have on regulations. One thing they all agree on with some certainty is that there will be regulatory change.

In January 2025, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health released the “PFAS removal report” which focuses on strategies to manage PFAS contamination in drinking water and wastewater in Minnesota.

In 2022, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision in Thryv, Inc., greatly expanding the NLRB’s traditional concept of “make-whole relief” for employees who are the victims of an employer’s unfair labor practices to include “all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harm” caused by the employer’s practices.

Following the February 17, 2025, decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, beneficial ownership information reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act are once again back in effect.

On January 27, 2025, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued a draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System/State Disposal System general permit to control pollution generated from rain and snow melt runoff (i.e., stormwater) associated with industrial activities discharging into waters of the State of Minnesota. Once finalized, the Permit will replace the current ISW General Permit, which expires on March 31, 2025.

The Minnesota State Legislature, in its 2024 legislative session, directed the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to develop recommendations regarding products containing lead, cadmium and PFASs.

In recent years, growing awareness of the ubiquity and possible dangers of PFAS — the class of compounds known as “forever chemicals” — has spawned an explosion in litigation and in new environmental statutes and regulations. This article, the first of two, explores the history of PFAS and the body of litigation these chemicals have elicited.

Paralleling this increase in litigation is an evolving regulatory regime that is in part based on existing environmental statutes and liabilities, and in part all its own. A PFAS regulatory regime targeted at removing PFAS from products, air, water and waste to prevent new PFAS pollution, managing PFAS when pollution has occurred, and cleaning up PFAS at particularly contaminated sites continues to be developed in Minnesota and at the federal level and is expected to increase (at least at the state level) in the years to come.

Given the recent uptick in immigration enforcement, there is a real risk that ICE may visit your healthcare facility. 

Upon taking office, President Trump directed federal agencies to freeze all new regulations pending review and to eliminate ten regulations for every new one going forward. As the new Congress convenes, federal legislators are moving to block certain recently enacted Biden era regulations through Congressional Review Act authority.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency recently published new water quality criteria for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds on October 7 and December 26, 2024.

On December 9, 2024, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s summary dismissal of claims brought by local businesses against Pope County under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act (MERA).

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 20,716 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the first half of fiscal year 2025.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela. The extensions are effective for 18 months.

This article summarizes key highlights among the flurry of immigration-related actions since President Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is currently accepting applications for its Cooperative Development Grant Program.

In light of the Executive Orders by President Trump we are sharing with you guidance regarding what to expect and how to prepare for worksite visits from ICE, Wage and Hour Division or USCIS (FDNS).

Last week, the White House issued a number of executive orders with wide-ranging impact. Among them was an executive order reflecting, among other matters, the Trump Administration’s opposition to affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the workplace, entitled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will soon be announcing the opening of the fiscal year (FY) 2026 H‑1B Lottery. We are anticipating the process will be similar to years past, whereby employers seeking to file FY 2026 H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must first electronically register and pay a $215 registration fee for each electronic registration they submit to USCIS using a MyUSCIS registrant online account.

Today, the Iowa Supreme Court issued its ruling in MIMG CLXXII Retreat on 6th, LLC v. Miller unanimously finding that the CARES Act’s requirement that tenants of “covered properties” be issued a 30-day notice to vacate (in addition to the standard three-day nonpayment notice) has effectively lapsed and is no longer applicable to landlord-tenant relations in Iowa.

Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development has issued initial guidance for employers who do not want to participate in Minnesota’s Paid Leave Law program and instead offer an equivalent private plan. In this article, we summarize DEED’s recent guidance on private plan substitutions.

Building and maintaining an accessible, legally compliant website can be challenging. For years, technology vendor accessiBe advertised seemingly simple, quick and economical solutions, including a software plug-in tool called accessWidget.

Colleges and universities are warning foreign students to return to campus before President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025.

Effective January 13, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security will permanently increase the automatic extension period of work authorization to up to 540 days for eligible noncitizens who file a timely request to renew their work authorization.

The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration will soon update the Adverse Effect Wage Rates for range and non-range H-2A applications

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminded stakeholders that a Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, that is properly completed and signed by a civil surgeon on or after November 1, 2023, does not expire and may be used indefinitely as evidence.

The Department of Homeland Security announced a final rule, effective January 17, 2025, that will “significantly enhance U.S. companies’ ability to fill job vacancies in critical fields, strengthening our economy.”

DHS announced a final rule updating the temporary agricultural H-2A and temporary nonagricultural H-2B nonimmigrant worker programs. The rule, effective January 17, 2025, “seeks to strengthen worker protections and the integrity of the H-2 programs, provide greater flexibility for H-2A and H-2B workers, and improve program efficiency.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is now requiring certain applicants filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, to submit Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, with their Form I-485 or the Form I-485 may be rejected.

The new edition of Form I-129 replaces the April 01, 2024, edition. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said there will be no grace period for the revised edition.

On December 31, 2024, the government filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court, to essentially again stay the nationwide injunction on the CTA.

On December 17, 2024, oral argument occurred before the Iowa Supreme Court in two identical cases the result of which is likely to bring much needed clarity to notice requirements under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security.

In advance of the upcoming holiday travel season and the incoming Trump administration on January 20, 2025, nonimmigrant employees, foreign students/scholars and their dependents (nonimmigrants) should take the following into consideration as they make their international travel plans.

USCIS and DOL have released the joint temporary rule implementing the process for employers who have a certified ETA 9142B with an employment start within FY 2025 (from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025) to apply for the 64,716 additional H-2B visa numbers.

A Minnesota Court of Appeals was recently tasked with deciding which statute provides for review of an amendment to a water appropriation permit.