How the Government Shutdown Impacts Employment-Based Immigration
Under a federal government shutdown, only essential and fee-based governmental functions will continue to operate. The shutdown impacts immigration compliance and case processing in the following ways:
The Department of Labor will remain operational for the purposes of PERM and H-1B cases. During previous shutdowns, the DOL’s Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) was suspended; however, the DOL has confirmed with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that FLAG will remain open during this shutdown.
USCIS will continue to process and adjudicate almost all cases since it is a fee-based agency and does not rely on congressional funding. However, adjudications under the Conrad 30 program could become suspended.
SEVP offices will remain open.
American embassies and consulates will initially continue to process visas and passports since they are primarily fee-funded. However, embassy and consulate functions might become limited to diplomatic visas and life-or-death emergencies if the government shutdown becomes prolonged.
E-Verify will be unavailable until the government re-opens, and DHS has suspended the three-day rule for entering new hires into E-Verify. However, employers are still required to complete Form I-9 within three business days of a worker’s first day of employment. Employers should track new hires to enter into E-Verify once the government reopens and the system becomes available again.
Ascentria Care Alliance: Massachusetts could lose about 2,000 healthcare workers due to upcoming TPS Haiti termination
In an op-ed with the Worcester Business Journal last month, Ascentria Care Alliance President and CEO Angela Bovill shared that Massachusetts could lose about 2,000 healthcare workers due to the upcoming termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti on February 3, 2026. TPS enabled Haitians and other nationals from designated countries who were previously in the US to remain lawfully present and obtain work permission while conditions in their home country have prevented their safe return. Haiti previously received TPS designations due to the country’s 2010 earthquake and more recent political violence over the past several years. The Trump Administration terminated TPS for Haiti and several other countries last year despite widespread consensus that conditions have not improved enough to ensure their citizens’ safe return.
Bovill states that the TPS Haiti termination will particularly impact the Massachusetts healthcare industry, as “Haitian TPS holders make up a critical portion of the long-term care workforce, serving as certified nursing assistants, home health aides, and direct care workers,” among other occupations. Bovill emphasizes the harsh impact of this loss, stating that “losing even a portion of this workforce will lead to fewer available beds, longer wait times, increased burnout for remaining staff, and potentially the closure of facilities families rely on. There is no backup workforce waiting to fill these roles.”
Read Bovill’s op-ed in the Worcester Business Journal here.
Trump Administration challenges in-state tuition programs for undocumented students in Virginia and 6 other states
In December 2025, The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the Commonwealth of Virginia for its policy of allowing undocumented Virginia residents to receive in-state tuition and financial assistance. The DOJ argued in this case and six others across the US that allowing undocumented state residents to receive in-state tuition discriminated against US citizens because out-of-state US citizens are not eligible for the same lowered tuition costs.
Several of the Republican-led states facing these lawsuits have agreed with the DOJ and seek to also stop the programs. For example, at the tail end of his term, (now-former) Virginia Attorney General Jason Mirayes submitted a joint filing with the DOJ asking the federal district court judge to declare the Virginia Dream Act unconstitutional. Mirayes’ term has since ended on January 17, 2026, and the new Virginia Attorney General, Jay Jones, has stated he will “reverse course.”
See Inside Higher Ed’s article on the Virginia Dream Act challenge here.
Boston federal district court issues order restricting Trump Administration’s ability to deport students and faculty for political speech
On January 22, 2026, federal district court Judge William Young issued an order limiting the Trump Administration’s power to deport noncitizen students and faculty for their pro-Palestine political speech. Last year, the Trump Administration targeted students and faculty who spoke out in support of Palestine by arresting them and placing them in deportation proceedings. See our previous post on these arrests here. Judge Young ruled last September that noncitizens have the same free speech rights as US citizens.
Judge Young’s January 22, 2026 ruling held that the Trump Administration engaged in viewpoint discrimination when it targeted these noncitizens for arrest and deportation. The ruling also states that this practice violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to follow Notice and Comment rulemaking. Lastly, Judge Young ordered that any adverse change in immigration status for those involved in the lawsuit “will be presumed to be retribution and declared void” unless the Trump Administration can prove “by clear and convincing evidence that the change is due to a criminal conviction, an independent change in immigration status, or another specific legitimate reason.” Shelley Murphy, The Boston Globe.
For more information, see reporting from the Knight First Amendment at Columbia University and The Boston Globe.
USCIS Publishes End-of-Year Review, “Making America Safe Again”
On December 22, 2025, USCIS published an end-of-year review of its actions from the past calendar year, titled “Make American Safe Again.” See the review here.
DHS Terminates Family Reunification Parole Programs
On December 12, 2025, DHS announced that it terminated all categorical family reunification parole programs for nationals of Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. DHS will now only grant parole on a case-by-case basis. DHS’s procedure for terminating the programs is outlined in the Federal Register, available here. See USCIS’s announcement here.
TPS updates for January 2026: Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Syria
There are three recent developments in Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) designations for Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Syria:
Ethiopia: On December 15, 2025, USCIS announced that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had terminated TPS for Ethiopia. TPS for Ethiopian nationals will now end on February 13, 2026. See the Federal Register notice here.
South Sudan: On December 30, 2025, a federal district court judge in Boston temporarily blocked TPS termination for South Sudanese nationals. TPS for South Sudan was set to end on January 5, 2026. See the update on the USCIS website here.
Syria: On December 5, 2025, USCIS updated its TPS website for Syria confirming that EADs issued under TPS for Syrian nationals will remain valid, pursuant to the November 19, 2025 federal district court order blocking TPS termination for Syria. Individuals with EADs pursuant to TPS for Syria may continue to work based on their current EADs. See the USCIS website here and additional information on the lawsuit from the International Refugee Assistance Project here.
Please feel free to contact us with questions or concerns regarding the J-1 waiver process at info@iandoli.com.
Update on Neighborhood Investigations for Naturalization Applicants: USCIS visits homes of applicants
In August 2025, USCIS released a policy memorandum stating that it would resume “neighborhood investigations” of naturalization applicants, a policy that has been dormant since 1991. These neighborhood investigations include “the vicinity of [an applicant’s] place of residence and employ and include at least the 5-year period prior to the filing of the [] naturalization application.” Consistent with this memorandum, USCIS has begun visiting naturalization applicants at their homes without notice. Our office has heard reports of these visits focusing heavily on the legitimacy of an applicant’s marriage to a US citizen, and we have also heard of USCIS agents conducting home visits for permanent resident applicants.
We remind naturalization applicants of their right to have their attorney present for any questioning by USCIS. Applicants must assert that right to USCIS if they wish to pause the neighborhood investigation until their attorney is present. Applicants should request the agents’ names, what agency they are from, and contact information so that their attorney may contact the agents to arrange a meeting.
For more information on the memorandum, see our previous publication here.
State Department Updates Visa Issuance Suspension for Certain Nationals
On December 16, 2025, The State Department updated its guidance on the full and partial suspension of visa issuances for individuals from certain countries, in alignment with Presidential Proclamation 10998. The Proclamation and guidance added 20 countries to the travel ban, bringing the total to 39 countries.
Effective January 1, 2026, the United States will fully bar entry and visa issuances to nationals from the following countries:
Afghanistan
Burma (Myanmar)
Burkina Faso
Chad
Republic of the Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Haiti
Iran
Laos
Libya
Mali
Niger
(Individuals traveling with documents from the) Palestinian Authority
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Sudan
Sudan
Syria
Yemen
The US will also bar entry to immigrants (newly arriving Permanent Residents) and nonimmigrants with B-1, B-2, F, M, and J status from the following countries:
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Benin
Burundi
Cote d’Ivoire
Cuba
Dominica (island in the Lesser Antilles; distinct from the Dominican Republic in the Greater Antilles)
Gabon
The Gambia
Malawi
Mauritania
Nigeria
Senegal
Tanzania
Togo
Tonga
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Additionally, the US will bar entry to all immigrants (newly arriving Permanent Residents) from Turkmenistan.
See the State Department announcement here, and see a summary from NAFSA here.