What Employers Should Know About The New Immigration Orders
Topics: Immigration
On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump returned to the presidency. Within two hours of assuming office, he executed a series of executive orders intended to carry out a restrictive and enforcement heavy immigration agenda. While these executive orders do not directly target employers or employment-based immigration, employers should expect additional scrutiny of the foreign nationals they employ and their workforce generally.
The Trump Administration announced the intention to require the registration of all foreign nationals in the United States and enhance the vetting and screening of foreign nationals seeking admission to the United States. Foreign nationals in the United States should expect multiple, duplicative, and repetitive visits to USCIS’ Application Support Center to have their photograph and fingerprint taken. While it remains to be seen what the practical effect of this directive will be, employers should anticipate longer adjudication times, additional scrutiny, and higher costs to petition to employ foreign nationals in the United States.
The Trump Administration has also stated that it intends to limit the number of employment authorized non-citizens in the United States. This will likely manifest itself in the form of the termination of DACA, and revocation of Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole issued by the Biden Administration. Foreign nationals using these programs to work in the United States should anticipate that the government will not renew their employment authorization card. Employers wishing to retain these employees should consult immigration counsel to determine options for these employees.
These executive orders include potential bans on admission to the United States based on country of origin. Labeled the Muslim Ban by the press during his first term in office, the Trump Administration is widely expected to promulgate another order prohibiting citizens of certain Islamic countries from entering the United States. Employers doing business in, employing, or seeking to employ citizens of Chad, Eretria, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, and Venezuela should anticipate that these workers may not be able to enter the country, or that there may be more hurdles to their employment.
Finally, while there is no specific executive order regarding the use of workplace raids, it’s not unrealistic to expect Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct workplace raids and increase the use of I-9 audits. In response to these potential risks, employers would be well served to enroll in eVerify, and regularly audit their I-9 forms. While eVerify is not insurance against the employment of an unauthorized foreign national, it puts an employer in a stronger bargaining position with ICE and the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
Larger employers should consider utilizing electronic I-9 management software. Immigration regulations give employers selected for audit three days to produce their I-9 forms. While ICE auditors regularly granted employers an extension of time to produce their I-9 forms, employers should not count on such generosity in the future. Additionally, employers selected for audit should expect ICE to take a more aggressive position and seek larger fines. Employers may find it more cost effective to litigate and test ICE’s enforcement than to acquiesce to ICE’s conclusion.
While these Trump immigration orders do not directly touch employment or employment immigration, there’s plenty for employers to worry about. Companies should contact Richard Green at CDF if they are concerned about how these issues may impact them.
