Trump Agencies’ H-1B Visa Rules Struck Down in California (1)

The Covid-19 pandemic’s effect on domestic unemployment isn’t enough to justify regulatory shortcuts taken by the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor in implementing significant changes to the H-1B visa program, a federal judge ruled, setting aside the Trump administration measures.

The “good cause” exception to the Administrative Procedure Act is usually evoked in the event of emergencies, and the agencies’ failure to act until six months into the pandemic undercuts their use of “‘skyrocketing’ and ‘widespread’ unemployment rates as a basis to find ‘immediate’ action was necessary,” Judge Jeffrey S. White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern ...