Last month, DHS submitted its report to the court on the status of planned regulations to rescind the H-4 EAD. At that time, DHS confirmed that the review of the proposed rule is ongoing, and senior levels of the Department’s leadership are actively considering the terms . Now, the U.S. workers who brought the lawsuit have had enough of waiting and filed a motion with the court this week to remove the abeyance and move forward with the case. Remember, the court has basically had this case on hold since the Trump administration came into office. Save Jobs USA points out that the case has now been delayed for a year and a half and still no proposed rule has been submitted to the OMB.
Save Jobs argues that “[j]ustice delayed is justice denied” and the longer the H-4 Rule remains in effect, the longer Save Jobs USA members and other American workers will “suffer injury from
the presence of foreign competitors in their job market.” They also point to the vagueness of DHS’ previously submitted reports regarding the status of the proposed regulation and exactly what DHS plans to propose. Because DHS has yet to make good on its promise to propose a new regulation, Save Jobs wants the court to decide the case, specifically the question of whether DHS has the authority to permit employment without Congress.
DHS will have a chance to respond to this motion and then the court will have to decide whether to continue the abeyance or schedule the case for a new round of briefing and oral argument.
Regardless of the pending motion, the H-4 EAD remains available and USCIS continues to approve them. You can continue to file unless and until a final regulation actually takes effect or a court says otherwise.