Legal Updates Archive

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on September 19, 2024, that it has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2025.

As of September 10, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is automatically extending the validity of permanent resident cards (green cards) to 36 months for lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card.

On September 9, 2024, the Department of State (DOS) announced the issuance of all available visas in the employment-based second preference (EB-2) visa category for fiscal year (FY) 2024.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced a revised transition schedule (scroll to September 10, 2024) for receiving and processing H-2A job orders and Applications for Temporary Employment Certification under the Farmworker Protection Rule, along with other technical guidance.

The California Service Center (CSC) has moved to a new facility.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its guidance on when students may be eligible for optional practical training (OPT) extensions for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

A Texas District Court has temporarily stopped the Biden administration's "Keeping Families Together" parole-in-place program.

According to reports, the Biden administration plans to resume a program that allows would-be migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to apply from their home countries for entry into the United States.

Pay transparency laws are increasingly being implemented across the United States with a purported goal of increasing fairness, addressing wage inequalities and promoting a more transparent hiring process.

Back in February 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued its widely discussed decision in McLaren Macomb that drastically shifted the standard for determining the lawfulness of common employee separation agreements. In short, the NLRB ruled that a hospital violated the National Labor Relations Act by unlawfully furloughing eleven employees without bargaining with the union, by directly dealing with those employees in offering them separation agreements, and by offering separation agreements with facially unlawful confidentiality and nondisclosure terms.

On August 19, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a Federal Register notice to implement Keeping Families Together, a parole-in-place process for certain noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens. DHS estimated that up to 500,000 noncitizen spouses and 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens may meet the eligibility criteria.

The Department of State (DOS) announced on August 16, 2024, that annual limits have been reached in the EB-3, EW, and EB-5 unreserved categories for this fiscal year.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on August 5, 2024, that it has completed its second random selection to reach the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B regular cap numerical allocation.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an update to its policy on Ukrainian employees with parole, stating that E-Verify employers should not create a case in E-Verify for re-paroled employees unless they are newly hired.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended the expiration date of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to 05/31/2027.

On July 26, 2024, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the deferral, for 18 months, of the removal of any Lebanese national who was present in the United States on that date, with a few exceptions.

On June 18, 2024, the Biden administration announced actions to more efficiently process employment-based nonimmigrant visas for those who have graduated from college in the United States and have a job offer.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued policy guidance, effective immediately, on new provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that cover consequences for noncompliance with the EB-5 regional center program.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released frequently asked questions (FAQs) that address common questions by individuals in H-1B nonimmigrant status, particularly related to applying for lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, job changes or terminations, international travel, and dependent family members.

On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a final rule raising the minimum salary employers must pay exempt employees under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Though the rule is facing legal challenges, employers are preparing for what comes next. If you have exempt employees, here is what you need to know.

With cannabis now officially legalized in Minnesota and the Office of Cannabis Management working to develop its regulatory licensing and oversight program for cannabis businesses, many bankers are also hard at work putting together cannabis banking business lines. But there’s another important piece of this puzzle: the deposit account agreement.

Fredrikson attorneys from several practice and industry groups reflect on the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s rulings on their specific areas of law and on their clients’ business.

The Federal Trade Commission has struck out in enforcing its final rule banning employment non-competes, but there are more innings to go.

As the Federal Trade Commission ban on non-compete agreements is set to take effect September 4, 2024, its status remains in flux. Two federal district courts have issued rulings enjoining the FTC from enforcing the ban. Both rulings are limited to only the named plaintiff in the case, but one of these courts has promised a decision on whether to enter a nationwide injunction before August 30, 2024. This puts employers in a difficult situation.

It is no secret that the intercollegiate athletics landscape has changed drastically over the last five years, as student-athletes have been permitted to license their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) in exchange for compensation. These changes, kicked off by state legislatures in California and Florida, were escalated by student-athlete-initiated legal action.

On July 24, 2024 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division issued a 54-page Memorandum and Order enjoining the U.S. Department of Education from “implementing, enacting, enforcing, or taking any action in any manner to enforce” the 2024 Title IX regulations published on April 29, 2024, against the plaintiff states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

With nearly fifty years of caselaw addressing the introduction, definition, and expansion of workplace harassment law, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission replaced its prior enforcement guidance published in the 1980s and 1990s with a new document entitled “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace.” This document provides some helpful insight that employers can use to review and update their harassment policies and trainings.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the designation of Yemen for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been extended and redesignated for 18 months, beginning on September 4, 2024, and ending on March 3, 2026. DHS also announced work authorization relief for F-1 students from Yemen. Below are highlights of DHS’s actions.

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for August 2024 shows no further retrogression in the EB-3 visa category following retrogression in July.

President Biden has extended through June 30, 2026, deferred removal for Liberians with a grant of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) under a 2022 memorandum.

The Department of Homeland Security released additional details about the extension and redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) through February 3, 2026.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has raised civil monetary penalties for certain violations based on inflation.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that applicants for naturalization can now request a replacement Social Security card when they apply for citizenship through Form N-400.

Most Minnesota landlords are aware that the state legislature passed sweeping changes to Minnesota’s landlord-tenant laws during the 2023 legislative session, most of which took effect on January 1, 2024. With less fanfare, however, the legislature passed another round of significant changes during the 2024 legislative session. 

As The Wall Street Journal reports, the Mizrahi Kroub law firm is one of a handful of plaintiff-firms filing thousands of Website Accessibility / ADA lawsuits each year. 

On May 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to review a 2023 Clean Water Act decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As in last year’s high-profile CWA decision, the Court will once again consider — and potentially curtail — the scope of EPA’s authority to regulate pollutant discharges.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management and Slawson Exploration Company related to the issuance of drilling permits. 

The Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned an injunction on the City of Minneapolis’ 2040 Comprehensive Plan on May 13, 2024. 

On March 21, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the EPA exceeded its statutory authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act when it used a Significant New Use Rule to prohibit a fluorination process that had been used by Inhance Technologies L.L.C. for decades. 

The 2024 Minnesota legislative session brought notable changes to environmental laws in Minnesota.

On December 29, 2023, China enacted amendments to the PRC Company Law which came into effect earlier this month on July 1, 2024.

In 2024, the Minnesota Legislature made several changes to the Gopher One Call Statute, creating reporting requirements for large operators and modifying excavation processes to require meetings at the sites of proposed excavations. It also created new safety requirements for underground telecommunications installers, which for the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area take effect on July 1, 2025, and for the rest of the state on January 1, 2026. 

Many changes to Minnesota’s health care laws were signed into law by Governor Walz in the 2024 legislative session that ended in May. Here is an overview of several of the key changes and new laws. Please contact your Fredrikson attorney for more information.

When the Federal Trade Commission issued its final rule banning employment non-competes over two months ago, it was widely expected to be struck down in some fashion. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has levied the first of those strikes, but it is far from a strikeout for the FTC.

Subject to certain exceptions, as of June 5, 2024, President Biden has “suspended and limited” entry into the United States of certain noncitizens across the southern border.

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for July includes the following information about retrogression in the EB-3 immigrant visa preference category and an alert about a new law’s impact on special immigrant visas.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reminded E-Verify users to delete the dash in their E-Verify login bookmarks.

On June 18, 2024, President Biden announced measures “to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on June 20, 2024, that it is extending the work authorization of Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries under the designations of El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan through March 9, 2025.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that login security will be enhanced for E-Verify and Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements later this year, when users will begin logging into E-Verify or SAVE using Login.gov.