Headlines:
DHS Shutdown Not Anticipated to Have an effect on Most ICE, CBP, USCIS Operations – The Division of Homeland Safety is technically in partial shutdown standing, though sure operations are anticipated to proceed, together with most actions performed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Safety. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies fee-funded actions are additionally anticipated to proceed in the course of the shutdown.
USCIS Obtained Sufficient Supplemental H-2B Petitions to Attain Cap for Returning Staff – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies has obtained sufficient petitions to succeed in the cap for the extra 18,490 H-2B visas made obtainable beneath a short lived last rule for the primary allocation of returning staff of Fiscal Yr 2026 with begin dates from January 1 to March 31, 2026.
DHS Terminates TPS for Yemen – The Division of Homeland Safety introduced the termination of Non permanent Protected Standing for Yemen efficient 60 days after the date of publication of the discover within the Federal Register.
Appeals Courtroom Permits Termination of TPS for Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua – The U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a keep pending attraction permitting the Trump administration to maneuver ahead with plans to terminate Non permanent Protected Standing for an estimated 60,000 migrants in the USA, together with 50,000 Hondurans, 7,000 Nepalis, and three,000 Nicaraguans.
OFLC Releases Information on Employers and Chosen Program Statistics – The Division of Labor’s Workplace of International Labor Certification has launched a complete set of public disclosure information and chosen program statistics.
DOS Confirms That China is Not A part of Immigrant Visa Pause – Practitioners alerted the Division of State (DOS) that its Journey Docs web site erroneously acknowledged that China was included amongst dozens of nations for which immigrant visa processing has been paused. DOS subsequently eliminated the assertion from its web site.
Particulars:
DHS Shutdown Not Anticipated to Have an effect on Most ICE, CBP, USCIS Operations
On February 14, 2026, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS)’s funding lapsed attributable to a breakdown in spending invoice negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over how DHS companies conduct their operations. DHS is due to this fact technically in partial shutdown standing, though sure operations are anticipated to proceed, together with most actions performed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Safety. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies fee-funded actions are additionally anticipated to proceed in the course of the shutdown.
To unblock the funding, Democrats are demanding that Congress impose sure “guardrails” on DHS companies, resembling prohibiting DHS officers from conducting stops, questioning, and searches based mostly on a person’s presence at sure places, their job, their spoken language and accent, or their race and ethnicity; requiring officers to make use of physique cameras, take away masks, and show identification; acquiring judicial search warrants earlier than getting into houses; and prohibiting funds from getting used to conduct enforcement close to delicate places, together with medical services, faculties, child-care services, church buildings, polling locations, and courts.
The partial shutdown is predicted to final no less than every week, with the caveat that members could also be referred to as again to Congress if a viable settlement is reached.
USCIS Obtained Sufficient Supplemental H-2B Petitions to Attain Cap for Returning Staff
On February 13, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies (USCIS) introduced that it has obtained sufficient petitions to succeed in the cap for the extra 18,490 H-2B visas made obtainable beneath a short-term last rule for the primary allocation of returning staff of Fiscal Yr (FY) 2026 with begin dates from January 1 to March 31, 2026. February 6, 2026, was the ultimate receipt date for petitions requesting supplemental H-2B visas beneath the primary allocation.
USCIS defined that it obtained extra petitions than obtainable H-2B visas for the primary allocation. The company used a computer-generated choice course of to allocate the visas with out exceeding the primary FY 2026 supplemental cap allocation. On February 13, 2026, USCIS performed this random choice course of for petitions obtained on the primary 5 enterprise days of submitting (February 2 via 6, 2026).
DHS Terminates TPS for Yemen
On February 13, 2026, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) introduced the termination of Non permanent Protected Standing (TPS) for Yemen efficient 60 days after the date of publication of the discover within the Federal Register. As of press time, it was unclear when the discover could be revealed.
TPS Yemen beneficiaries in the USA, estimated to quantity about 1,380, with no different lawful foundation for remaining have 60 days from publication to voluntarily depart the USA. The company inspired these leaving the USA to make use of U.S. Customs and Border Safety’s CBP Dwelling app to report their departure from the USA. The app features a complimentary airplane ticket, a $2,600 exit bonus, and potential future alternatives for authorized immigration, DHS mentioned.
Appeals Courtroom Permits Termination of TPS for Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua
On February 9, 2026, the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a keep pending attraction permitting the Trump administration to maneuver ahead with plans to terminate Non permanent Protected Standing (TPS) for an estimated 60,000 migrants in the USA, together with 50,000 Hondurans, 7,000 Nepalis, and three,000 Nicaraguans.
The court docket mentioned it concluded that “the federal government is more likely to succeed on the deserves of its attraction both by displaying that the district court docket lacked jurisdiction or by prevailing on plaintiffs’ arbitrary-and-capricious [Administrative Procedure Act] problem.”
OFLC Releases Information on Employers and Chosen Program Statistics
The Division of Labor’s Workplace of International Labor Certification (OFLC) has launched a complete set of public disclosure information (via the primary quarter of fiscal 12 months 2026) drawn from employer functions requesting prevailing wage determinations and labor certifications for the PERM, LCA (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3), H-2A, H-2B, CW-1, and Prevailing Wage applications. The general public disclosure information embody all last determinations OFLC issued for these applications in the course of the October 1–December 31, 2025, reporting interval of Fiscal Yr (FY) 2026.
OFLC has additionally launched chosen program statistics for the primary quarter of FY 2026 for the PERM, LCA (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3), H-2A, H-2B, CW-1, and Prevailing Wage applications.
DOS Confirms That China is Not A part of Immigrant Visa Pause
In accordance with experiences, practitioners alerted the Division of State (DOS) on February 10, 2026, that its Journey Docs web site erroneously acknowledged that China was included amongst dozens of nations for which immigrant visa processing has been paused as of January 21, 2026. DOS subsequently eliminated the assertion from its web site.
International locations topic to the pause embody Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
