International students will have an easier time obtaining H-1B status after a federal judge ended a Trump administration regulation that made the process more difficult.
According to this Forbes article, Trump administration officials increased H-1B denial rates via memos and policies that were later ruled unlawful. McDermott Partner Paul Hughes—who represented plaintiffs in an complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief—said a Trump administration move to end H-1B via lottery violated the law.
While many of the United States’ largest corporations don’t oppose the Biden administration’s vaccine requirements for many employers, those companies say many of their questions about the administration’s rule have gone unanswered. The new rule requires employers with more than 100 employers to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations or require weekly testing of employees.
In an article published in The Hill, McDermott Partner Michelle Strowhiro said some employers may decide to scrap the testing alternative altogether.
“Administratively, it’s going to be quite burdensome for employers, especially large employers with hundreds or thousands of employees, to track weekly the testing results for employees,” Strowhiro said.
Multiple business groups have sided with the Biden administration in a plea to a US appeals court to uphold the federal government’s practice of providing work permits to student visa holders.
According to aReuters article, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (Washtech) is requesting that the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit revive its lawsuit that argues that the Optimal Practical Training (OPT) program is beyond the federal government’s authority.
“If Washtech’s broad claims were to succeed, scores of other immigration programs—including, for example, work authorization for H-4 spouses[—]would crumble too,” McDermott partner Paul Hughes wrote in a brief on behalf of the groups’ leaders.
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