The Trump Administration’s New Era of Enforcement Policies and the impact on U.S. Multinational Companies

Abstract

In response to the Trump Administration’s “America First” agenda , the principal agency responsible for administering U.S. immigration benefits, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), has issued a series of memoranda rescinding long-standing policies increasing its scrutiny of adjudications and broadening its enforcement ability. Under new guidance issued, the Federal Government will more closely scrutinize immigration benefits and will no longer exempt classes or categories of removable foreign nationals from potential enforcement. This enforcement-oriented agenda includes employment based non-immigrant and immigrant visa categories. As part of this updated policy, USCIS will be referring more cases to U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) for removal proceedings. Importantly, this will impact companies who employ foreign professional local hires and international assignees in the U.S. This article will (i) analyze the updated enforcement-focused USCIS legal framework; (ii) examine recent USCIS adjudication trends in light of the “America First” agenda and revised internal enforcement policies; and (iii) discuss how companies can best prepare for increased scrutiny from the Federal Government and strategize to ensure business continuity in light of potential employment authorization disruptions for their international workforce.