H-1B and other immigrant workers could lose their 60-day cushion after a layoff

Yesterday's edition never arrived, and this one is a little late because of an earthquake that hit Cali, Colombia, where I live. My people and I were safe from harm, but please spare some room in your heart for the bruised and battered people of Colombia today. This newsletter is produced in part with AI, all mistakes are my own. — David

H-1B and other immigrant workers could lose their 60-day cushion after a layoff

A proposal now under White House regulatory review would eliminate the grace period that lets certain foreign workers retain their lawful status after losing a job. That cushion is what allows an H-1B, O-1 or other covered worker laid off mid-year to look for another sponsoring employer, switch to a different status, or wind down a household on some kind of schedule; removing it would compress all of that into far less time before the person is expected to leave the country. Newsweek, Bloomberg Law.

For broader context on the H-1B program, Pew Research Center published a detailed overview of how the visa works and who uses it.

A final Department of Homeland Security rule extends biometric-related charges to extension petitions, so certain larger employers pay again to keep workers they already employ. The charges — $4,000 for certain H-1B and $4,500 for certain L-1 petitions — now attach to renewals for people staying in the same job at the same company, turning what used to be routine paperwork into a recurring cost that factors into whether those companies keep sponsoring foreign professionals at all. American Bazaar

A federal court has blocked the separate $100,000 fee on certain H-1B employers, giving those employers a reprieve while the litigation continues. The pause removes one immediate cost but not the underlying volatility, and some companies are responding by hiring more technical staff abroad rather than relocating them to the United States. SHRM

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Private prison companies report record revenue as detention expands

The two largest private prison operators posted combined quarterly revenue of $1.4 billion as immigration detention climbed toward record levels. GEO Group and CoreCivic have each reported steep earnings increases tied to expanded ICE capacity, and the federal government is additionally buying detention sites outright — CoreCivic sold four facilities to DHS for roughly $1.6 billion — while keeping the same private companies running them. NPR, iNewsSource

Lawmakers demand answers on arrests of troops' parents and spouses

A bicameral group of lawmakers is pressing defense and immigration agencies to explain how they coordinate enforcement involving service members, veterans and their families. The letter also asks that longstanding protections be restored, arguing that detaining a soldier's parent or spouse pulls people away from their units and undercuts the promises used to recruit non-citizens into the armed forces. PBS NewsHour, the congressional letter

The oversight push follows investigative reporting that found more than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty troops had been detained after those protections were rolled back. Some service members have been separated from their families for months while relatives try to pursue the immigration options historically tied to military service. AP

Mexican consular staff face a visa cliff that could thin public services

About 400 locally hired employees at Mexico's consulates in the United States are at risk of losing their jobs as their nonrenewable A-2 visas expire. These are local hires rather than diplomats, the people who process passports, consular identification cards, birth certificates and voter credentials across Mexico's 53 consulates, and their right to be in the country is tied to the consular job itself. The visas carry a five-year cap that dates to a 2016 rule change, and the Trump administration has not indicated it will extend them, leaving employees to face returning to Mexico, finding another status, or becoming undocumented. El País, La Nación, Telemundo (YouTube)

Around the system

• ICE is buying commercial data records to feed an enforcement technology system, deepening the role of private information brokers in immigration operations. 404 Media
• A trans woman held in an Arizona detention center is speaking out about conditions inside the facility, describing abuse and isolation. Lookout
• ICE has expanded its ankle monitor program to nearly 54,000 immigrants, up from about 17,000 a year ago, with GEO Group subsidiary BI Inc. manufacturing and operating the devices under the agency's ISAP program. The Guardian
• The Justice Department is suing New York, Connecticut and Vermont over state laws that extend in-state college tuition and financial aid to undocumented immigrant students. VTDigger
• ICE expects to equip every field officer with body cameras by the end of August, though agency policy lets it withhold footage when release could compromise an investigation or an officer's privacy. Reuters, ABC News
• More on Moshannon Valley: federal officials are weighing purchases and other contracting options to hold onto detention capacity in Pennsylvania as current arrangements near expiration, raising questions about private management and county oversight. Spotlight PA