Welcome to the Garfinkel Immigration news roundup, where every month we will summarize and provide links to the latest stories impacting U.S. immigration.
Below is the July 2025 edition of the Garfinkel Immigration news roundup:
J-1 visa roadblocks? Here’s why H-1B visas could be an option for your school
As school districts across the country face growing teacher shortages, international talent has become a vital part of staffing strategies.
Recently, J-1 visa — a commonly used category for educators — applicants have struggled to schedule interview appointments at embassies and consulates because of the temporary pause implemented by the Trump administration in late May, and the subsequent reported backlog after it was lifted about three weeks later.
However, alternatives to the J-1 visa exist for many school systems and their employees. In his latest blog Partner William R. Hummel, head of Garfinkel Immigration’s Education Specialty Practice Group, explores how school systems can become eligible to file H-1B cap-exempt visas for their teachers, the benefits of doing so, eligibility criteria, and more.
State of humanitarian immigration and what alternative options may be available
Since taking office in January 2025, the second Trump administration has cancelled, revoked, and/or terminated many humanitarian immigration programs, while some of their actions have been temporarily blocked by the court system.
In the Firm’s newest white paper, Senior Counsel Catherine Magennis examines the current state of humanitarian immigration in the U.S. and what alternative options may be available for affected foreign nationals.
“Foreign nationals who once held legal status and work authorization under now-dismantled or scaled-back humanitarian programs may still have limited pathways available – though these are increasingly precarious under the current administration’s restrictive policies,” Magennis writes.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reaches FY2026 H-1B cap
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced earlier this month it had reached the H-1B cap for FY2026.
“We will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap,” the announcement read. “Petitions filed for current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap, and who still retain their cap number, are exempt from the FY 2026 H-1B cap.”
The H-1B nonimmigrant visa category is available for U.S. companies to fill a “specialty occupation” with a qualified foreign national. A specialty occupation is one that generally requires a bachelor’s degree or higher, or its equivalent, as a minimum, entry-level credential.
A legislatively established statutory cap limits approvals of new H-1B petitions in a fiscal year to 85,000, with 20,000 of that total reserved for foreign nationals who have obtained an advanced degree or higher from a U.S. college or university. A random, computer-generated lottery selects cap-subject H-1B petitions in fiscal years when applications exceed available visas, which is almost always the case.
Read the full announcement from USCIS here.
DOL launches new office to streamline access to work visas
The Department of Labor recently launched a new office focused on employment-based visas, according to a report from Bloomberg Law earlier this month.
The new office will develop “customer-centered policies to improve access to work visas” as well as “coordinate immigration-related work with other federal agencies and manage communications to Congress and the public,” according to the story.
Find out more via Bloomberg Law here.
U.S. immigration backlog hits all-time high
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) hit a record-high backlog of 11.3 million pending applications in Q1 (January to March) of 2025, according to an article published by Newsweek earlier this month.
“The 11.3 million applications backlog marks the highest volume of pending cases ever recorded by the agency,” the story read. “For the first time in over a year, USCIS reported a ‘frontlog’— cases received but not yet opened or officially entered into the processing system — that stands at more than 34,000. The high number of unprocessed applications raises concerns about delays beginning even before formal review processes commence.”
State Department lays off over 1,300 employees under Trump administration plan
The Department of State (DOS) laid off more than 1,300 employees earlier this month, as detailed in this story by AP News.
The move came after the Supreme Court lifted temporary injunctions from lower courts blocking the layoffs at the DOS and other government agencies.
“The Trump administration has pushed to reshape American diplomacy and worked aggressively to shrink the size of the federal government, including mass dismissals driven by the Department of Government Efficiency and moves to dismantle whole departments like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Education Department,” the story read.
The story added: “(A recent) letter to Congress (from the DOS) was clear that the reorganization is also intended to eliminate programs — particularly those related to refugees and immigration, as well as human rights and democracy promotion — that the Trump administration believes have become ideologically driven in a way that is incompatible with its priorities and policies.”