United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices have been closed since March 18 due to the Covid-19 global pandemic. USCIS has announced that it is preparing to reopen its offices on June 4.

Coronavirus-related job losses in the U.S. have been severe.  Millions of people have been let go, furloughed, or laid off.  Foreign workers on non-immigrant visas, such as the H-1B visa, have not been spared.

The Trump administration plans to issue an executive order temporarily banning all immigration to the United States as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The H-1B lottery for 2020 is over and the petition filing period has begun.  The random selection process was a little different this year, requiring an electronic registration to be eligible, but not requiring a completed and approved H-1B petition to register.

A ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday will suspend the Remain in Mexico policy beginning March 12 in California and Arizona.  The appeals court agreed with a lower court ruling that the policy may violate the law by causing irreversible harm to asylum seekers.

Employers use H-1B work visas to hire foreign specialty workers when there aren't enough U.S. workers to meet demand.  Many of these positions are in the tech industry, so it may be no surprise that the Silicon Valley area has the most employers who hire H-1B workers.

The Trump administration is expanding its controversial travel ban to include six additional countries.  The updated executive order will prevent citizens of Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar (Burma), and Kyrgyzstan from receiving immigrant visas to the United States.

Effective last Friday, the Trump administration will now deny tourist visas to pregnant women suspected of trying to give birth in the United States so that their children are American citizens, a practice some call "birth tourism."