A California federal judge set aside the fast-tracked Departments of Labor and Homeland Security rules that significantly increased prevailing wage levels and tightened H-1B eligibility criteria. Finding that defendants "failed to show there was good cause to dispense with the rational and thoughtful discourse that is provided by the APA's notice and comment requirements," the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California set aside the Department of Homeland Security’s interim final rule, Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program, and the Department of Labor’s interim final rule, Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States. The Department of Labor’s rule, increasing required wages for the high-skilled visa program, went into immediate effect on October 8, 2020. The Department of Homeland Security’s fast-tracked rule changing H-1B eligibility criteria was set to go into effect on December 7, 2020.
The summary judgement ruling is immediately effective, though a speedy government appeal could affect the decision’s implementation.
Regardless of the outcome of an appeal, the agencies could take administrative steps to reissue the regulations in the remaining weeks of the Trump Administration.
The case is Chamber of Commerce et al. v. DHS et al., Case No. 4:20-CV-7331 (N.D. Ca., Dec. 1, 2020).
Goldblum & Pollins is monitoring the ongoing litigation and any agency announcements regarding the court order and will post updates accordingly.