[Artículo escrito por Benjamin Hu, Esq. como Consejero de Ganey Law Group ]
Un Tribunal de Distrito Federal ha derogado dos regulaciones de la administración Trump que limitan injustamente el programa H-1B y que obligaban a los empleadores a pagar salarios inflados a los trabajadores extranjeros. El Tribunal de Distrito de EE. UU. Para el Distrito Norte de California anuló las reglas finales provisionales de Fortalecimiento de las protecciones salariales para el empleo temporal y permanente de ciertos extranjeros en los Estados Unidos (del Departamento de Trabajo) y Fortalecimiento del Programa de Clasificación de Visas de No Inmigrante H-1B ( del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional).
Con la opinión invalidante del Tribunal de Distrito, se pueden apelar las reglas del DOL y el DHS.
Both interim final rules were implemented without a notice-and-comment period, citing a procedural exception due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The District Court disagreed and set aside both interim final rules.
The DHS rule would have gone into effect starting 2020-12-07. The DOL rule went into effect immediately upon publication. Under these rules, the required wages paid to any H-1B foreign specialty occupation worker would rise. The DOL rule specifically redefined the wage rates, increasing wage levels by approximately 28 percentile points.
| Wage Level | Pre-Rule Percentile | Post-Rule Percentile |
| 1 | 17 | 45 |
| 2 | 34 | 62 |
| 3 | 50 | 78 |
| 4 | 67 | 98 |
With the District Court invalidating opinion, the DOL and DHS rules can be appealed. The Trump administration previously has appealed and prevailed on similar invalidations, including its Public Charge new immigration policies. Additionally, the rule could potentially be reintroduced by merely following the necessary 30-day notice-and-comment period, which is still barely possible in the remaining time before a Biden administration.
