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 February 2026 edition of the Garfinkel Immigration news roundup:
How does the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown affect immigration?
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lapsed earlier this month, triggering a partial shutdown of the agency.
The remainder of the federal government is funded through at least the end of September.
DHS oversees key immigration agencies, including United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As a result, employers and foreign nationals may have questions about how this shutdown could affect immigration processing, work authorization, enforcement activity, and more.
The Firm has outlined what to expect and how immigration matters may be impacted here.
Is your H-1B program ready for a DOL audit? Understanding ‘Project: Firewall’
Under the current administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), in cooperation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), has expanded its scrutiny of employers that sponsor foreign nationals via the H-1B visa program.
Through an initiative known as “Project: Firewall,” the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is using enforcement mechanisms to identify potential violations of program requirements.
This is a notable development for employers, as even those acting in good faith may face investigations or audits if systems are not in place to monitor wage levels, worksite compliance, or public file documentation. With collaboration among DOL, EEOC as well as the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and USCIS, employers must also be prepared to answer questions about their hiring practices and address any perceived bias involving foreign national employees.
In her latest post, Partner Nam Douglass outlines what “Project: Firewall” is, why it matters, and how employers can proactively maintain compliance, especially in anticipation of potential government site visits or audits.
Congress may have ‘shut down’ DHS, but ICE has money to spare
As noted above, government funding lapsed for DHS in mid-February. This story from USA Today explains how “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) already has enough cash to operate through the end of President Donald Trump’s second term,” despite the shutdown.
“The GOP’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act … gave Homeland Security more than $170 billion in funding to conduct immigration enforcement through 2029,” the story reads. “Of the funding, ICE walked away with nearly $75 billion, including $30 billion for enforcement and removal operations and hiring new deportation officers, and $45 billion to expand immigration detention.”
The story continued: “That ‘extra’ funding is roughly six times the nearly $12 billion ICE received in the 2025 fiscal year.”
Read the full story via USA Today here.
Trump administration sued over visa freeze on immigrants from 75 countries
The Trump administration is facing a lawsuit from multiple civil rights organizations and U.S. citizens challenging its recent freeze of immigrant visa processing for nationals of 75 countries.
The suit argues the pause “imposes a nationality-based ban on legal immigration that strips families and working people of the process guaranteed by law,” as detailed by NPR.
“The lawsuit was brought by the National Immigration Law Center, Democracy Forward and The Legal Aid Society, among other groups, on behalf of a wide range of plaintiffs, including U.S. citizens who say they have been separated from family members because of the policy,” the story reads.
The pause applies only to immigrant visa applicants and is expected to last indefinitely. Find out more via NPR here.
FURTHER READING: U.S. halts immigrant visa processing for 75 countries — What applicants need to know
New research finds reducing immigration does not help U.S. workers
In his latest piece, Forbes Senior Contributor Stuart Anderson analyzes new data from the National Foundation for American Policy and finds that “reducing immigration is not good for the economy or U.S. workers.”
“U.S.-born workers did not prosper from fewer foreign-born workers in the labor force,” Anderson writes in the story. “U.S. workers also did not reenter the labor market as the number of foreign-born workers fell. The labor force participation rate for U.S.-born individuals aged 16 and older declined from 61.4% in January 2025 to 61.2% in January 2026.”
The story added: “Economists note that when companies and entrepreneurs cannot find a sufficient supply of workers, they invest less, start fewer new businesses and do not expand their operations.”
Find out more via Forbes here.
U.S. to add 65,000 seasonal guest worker visas for 2026
The United States will admit an additional 65,000 workers on H-2B visas this fiscal year, according to a notice published in the Federal Register earlier this month and discussed in this Reuters story.
“The move roughly doubles the 66,000 visas available each year to businesses such as construction, hospitality, landscaping and seafood processing, in a recognition that U.S. employers in those industries could be struggling to find workers,” the story reads.
The story added: “Employers in the seasonal businesses — including hotels — have clamored for more visas. Some construction businesses have complained of a lack of workers during Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.”