DOL Says “All Too Easy” To Companies, Immigrants, and Immigration Attorneys

By Murali Bashyam (Star Wars Fan) and Pam Prather (Not Star Wars Fan)

In George Lucas’ Empire Strikes Back, the evil Darth Vader lays a trap for the unsuspecting Luke Skywalker.  Skywalker, unknowingly, walks right into the trap.

What happens next?

This week, the Department of Labor ‘trapped’ companies, intending immigrants and immigration attorneys alike.   In yet another setback for employment-based immigrants, the PERM system has a new glitch.

Or is it a glitch?

Immigration practitioners have filled the blogs with messages of frustration and dismay, because a new ‘government error’ is resulting in a slew of denied applications.

This one concerns the contents of the advertisements placed for testing the market, specifically the ads’ description of primary and alternate requirements.  Although NOT legally required, denial letters state that the so-called “Kellogg language” must be specifically included.

This is clearly incorrect.

As AILA (American Immigration Lawyers’ Association) shared:

“AILA has continued to follow up with DOL [Department of Labor] on this issue. ….the response to date is that this is being investigated, and they hope to have an update ‘soon.’ …… I think that someone is confusing the supervised recruitment standards with the PERM recruitment standards. ……. DOL hasn’t revoked their FAQ which says that Kellogg language does not need to be in the recruitment, so the decisions appear to fly in the face of their own policy guidance and regulations”.

One has to question the DOL’s motive on this policy change, a change they are apparently implementing now WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE to immigration community.

When discussing this with a friend, he jokingly said that it all sounds a little passive-aggressive!

In the Star Wars movie, Darth Vader says “All Too Easy” when trapping young Skywalker.  Unfortunately for Vader, Skywalker escapes and a great fight with him begins.

If the DOL thinks it’s going to be ‘All Too Easy’ to shut down our legal immigration system with decisions that clearly contradict precedent, they are wrong.  The immigration community will fight to right these wrongs, much like Luke Skywalker did against the evil Darth Vader.