Last week the federal government temporarily halted the H-2B guest worker visa program due to a Florida federal court decision.
As of March 5 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services temporarily stopped processing H-2B petitions and on March 4 the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) stopped accepting or processing applications for H-2B prevailing wages and temporary labor certifications.
In its ruling in Perez v. Perez, the federal district court in the Northern District of Florida nullified the DOL’s 2008 H-2B regulations, saying the DOL lacks authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to issue regulations in the H-2B program.
This decision could lead to a circuit court conflict, that could come before the U.S. Supreme Court, according to an article published by The National Law Review, supplied by law firm Jackson Lewis. The DOL likely will take four to six weeks to respond to Perez, the article says.
