Here's the updated webinar transcript with minor grammar and clarity improvements, while staying as close to the original as possible:

James W. Wimberly (00:00):

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. This is our first in the month Friday webinar. The subject is "Ideas for Coping with Labor Shortages in Light of the Immigration Changes." Two weeks ago, I attended a human resources conference with about a hundred professionals from all across the country in the food processing industry, and by far, the number one topic of interest was the immigration changes. There will be time for questions at the end of the program. We normally advertise that programs last 45 minutes, but we'll stick around afterwards as long as the questions keep coming in, within reason. I'm here more to make an introduction and comments than to give a presentation. For the presentation, we have Jim Hughes, who is our immigration expert and has practiced immigration law for over 30 years. He'll take us through this, and as I say, I may interrupt at times for some questions or comments.

James L. Hughes (01:19):

So, as Jim mentioned, we're talking about how to deal with labor shortages in the current environment. We'll start off with "Where have all the workers gone?" Well, most of you know that a lot of workers dropped out of the workforce during COVID, and we have an aging workforce. Jim and I are examples of the aging workforce.

James W. Wimberly (01:45):

<Laugh> Speak for yourself, folks.

James L. Hughes (01:48):

We've stayed beyond the normal retirement age for various reasons, but a lot of people have dropped out and retired. Then you have a lot of people who are more interested in part-time or remote work, which certainly affects those businesses that need workers on-site, particularly in production or manufacturing environments. Some people are not able to work because they cannot afford childcare. I have heard that since COVID, the cost of childcare has skyrocketed. So that is a problem for some people. Some people have started their own business, which gives them flexibility to work when they want to work. Some people have had an increase in savings or household income that takes them out of the workforce. Then employers also have to contend with public assistance benefits and benefit cliffs that sometimes cause workers to only work part-time or to quit work because they don't want to have too much income that would affect their benefits.

James W. Wimberly (03:06):

Let me interrupt, Jim. One of the things I have been interested in over the years is the proportion of the American workforce that is of working age and fit to work actually works. And while the female component of that is relatively high, the male component is relatively low. Some say that public benefits have something to do with it. Most of our public benefits aren't contingent on seeking or holding work or job training. I do want to say that the Medicaid rules are likely going to change in federal legislation this year, and there's a high likelihood that the Medicaid rules will include work requirements for recipients of Medicaid. And that's a lot of people. In some states, it's over 30%. So that may encourage more people to seek work. Now, the work requirements aren't going to be that severe, but they are going to be there, and those that don't meet those requirements... So that will encourage more people to work. Jim,

James L. Hughes (04:34):

Yeah, some workers are seeking more skills, education, and training, so that may take them out of the workforce for a period of time or may shift them to other types of jobs. Then you have immigration law enforcement, which has certainly been the case since the Trump administration has come into existence. In the early days of the Trump administration, he issued executive orders that generally do not affect legal workers at your operations, but they do affect workers who are determined to be illegal. The Trump administration suspended the entry of illegal aliens—no more "catch and release." In fact, I heard recently that of all the people who have tried to enter the country since the Trump administration began, only nine have been admitted, and all the others have been turned away.

James L. Hughes (05:41):

The illegal aliens who are trying to enter the country after Trump took office have been rejected. None of them can claim asylum, and they're not permitted entry into the United States. The Trump administration is enforcing medical and criminal history clearance requirements that were part of the statute but were ignored during the Biden administration. Everyone who entered on or after January 20 is subject to being removed. And like in the prior Trump administration, anyone who applies for a benefit will be subject to more enhanced screening. This was a frustration to a lot of immigration lawyers because things that normally went through fairly quickly during prior administrations were slowed down during the Trump administration.

James W. Wimberly (06:44):

Let me make another comment here. There are lots of data out as to the number of deportations out of the country back from where they came in the Trump months compared to those of the previous administration. And the number of deportations is actually down a little bit. But the main reason for that is that the number of illegal crossings at the border have dropped by over 90%. So one thing the Trump executive orders and the statements of the president have done is to basically seal the border. So that's been a success story. It's been successful.

James L. Hughes (07:38):

Yep. And we're returning to a time when existing immigration laws will be enforced, and that may reduce the number of legal and illegal workers in the future. The press during the Biden administration talked a lot about the CBP One app. The Trump administration terminated that app on day one, and previously that app allowed people to enter the United States in some lawful status, either in parole or some other status. The Trump administration also terminated all categorical parole programs, including a program that allowed the entry of a lot of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.

James L. Hughes (08:39):

That program was terminated for people who tried to enter after January 20, 2025, but you still had over 500,000 people who entered under that program prior to the Trump administration. The Trump administration has also suspended any refugee admissions. Now, there's litigation going on about that, but I think the Trump administration was just trying to get a handle on the number of people who may be entering the United States and wanted to make sure that medical and criminal history clearances were received. Now, most work-authorized immigrants fall into one of the following categories: Temporary Protected Status. There are approximately 17 countries from which workers have entered the United States. Those workers have what is called Temporary Protected Status because of circumstances in their home country.

James L. Hughes (09:58):

There were parole programs where over a million people have entered the United States. Then you have people who have been around here for years, known as the Dreamers or DACA, and the number of people who were eligible for DACA may be as high as 4 million, but only approximately 1 million persons have actually registered for DACA. Then you have something called Deferred Enforced Departure that affects people from Lebanon, Liberia, Hong Kong, and the Palestinian area. They have been granted temporary work authorization but are not considered to be lawfully in the United States. That was something done during the Biden administration. Now you have various guest worker programs that total around 500,000 people each year. H-2A is for agricultural workers who come to work on a seasonal basis. They are not year-round workers, and application has to be made for these workers each year. Then you have H-2B workers who are non-agricultural workers. Generally, these people are allowed to work on a seasonal basis, but there are circumstances in which an employer can obtain an H-2B worker for longer than a season if there is some unusual circumstance. For example, if your business is raided and all your illegal employees are taken, you may be able to qualify for H-2B workers that are here for more than one year.

James W. Wimberly (12:08):

Let me, let me make a comment on that, Jim, on the H-2B. Number one, the president has spoken favorably of guest worker programs, and whereas many view him as anti-immigration overall, he seems to recognize the advantages of the guest worker programs. And to that end, our firm played a role in introducing state legislation to expand guest worker programs subject to approval or waiver by the federal government. So look for that as an area in which lawful immigration through guest worker programs might be expanded in the future.

James L. Hughes (13:02):

You also have green card holders and applicants, and there are many other non-immigrant visa categories where a person may have work authorization. During the prior Trump administration, the government interpreted these requirements more strictly, and we expect that attitude to continue in the current Trump administration. And you have refugees and asylees. Refugees are people who are outside the United States who have sought to enter the United States based on some form of persecution in their home country. Asylees are those who are already here who either have received asylum status because of persecution in their home country, or they have an application for asylee status pending.

James L. Hughes (14:12):

The Trump administration has paused processing of the applications for refugee and asylee status, and there is litigation pending about that pause. But we, at some point, the Trump administration will lift that pause and start allowing refugees and asylees to enter the country, although the numbers will be substantially lower than what they were during the Biden administration. Now, let me go through a category called TPS workers, and it's very important to understand that there are many different categories of people who have work authorization. So an employer should not jump to the conclusion that just because a worker has an EAD, that that worker is a TPS worker. That worker may have asylum status, that worker may have parole status, that worker may have some other status. So don't just jump to the conclusion that that worker is a TPS worker. So let's go through some of the current expiration dates and work authorization dates for some of the larger categories of TPS workers. Let's start with El Salvador. Presently, El Salvador workers are scheduled to have their TPS expire in September of 2026. Their work authorization is scheduled to expire in March of 2026. Now, these workers may be able to apply to extend their work authorization, at least until September of next year. So pay attention to that. Then you have some TPS workers from Haiti.

James L. Hughes (16:49):

The administration has taken the position that Haitian TPS workers can stay until August of this year, and their work authorization continues until August of this year. There is litigation pending that may change that date and push it into 2026. So pay attention to news reports, and we'll try and send out an alert if that current situation changes.

James W. Wimberly (17:24):

And it could be shortened if a Supreme Court reverses some ongoing litigation.

James L. Hughes (17:31):

With respect to Haitians, I don't expect that date to change.

James W. Wimberly (17:37):

Okay. What about Venezuelans?

James L. Hughes (17:39):

Well, well, I'm getting to those &lt;laugh>. Okay.

James W. Wimberly (17:42):

Okay.

James L. Hughes (17:43):

All right. And it looks like Venezuelans, the next big category, there is litigation pending with respect to Venezuela. The lower courts have ruled that the Trump administration cannot shorten the deadline for Venezuelans. So presently, their work authorization and their authority to stay in the United States have an expiration date of April 2nd, 2026. But yesterday, the Trump administration filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to have the lower court decisions stay, which would mean that we might be going back to a shorter expiration date, but we'll see what the Supreme Court decides, and once we know the answers to that, we'll send out an alert. Do you have any more comments on that?

James W. Wimberly (18:55):

Well, I will just say the Venezuelan issue is before Justice Kagan unless she refers it to the whole Supreme Court, and she would probably be one more likely to keep the current expiration date in 2026 unless it gets to the full court.

James L. Hughes (19:19):

Yeah. Let's talk for a moment about those under Deferred Enforced Departure. There are only really a handful of people in that category. And as you can see, the ones from Liberia, Hong Kong, and the Palestinian area have their EADs automatically extended through the dates on the screen. There are not many people who have entered under that category. Another category that's really very interesting, and that started during the Biden administration, they've announced an expedited process to give people deferred action who are witnesses to labor violations. So you may have employees who are illegal aliens who are subject to deportation, but they can protect themselves by complaining of labor law violations, &lt;laugh> at your establishment, and as long as there is an ongoing federal, state, or local law enforcement agency investigation, like OSHA, NLRB, EEOC, DOL, or any state or local agency, they can stay in the United States if that status is granted. They are given work authorization for four years. Now the Trump administration could terminate the program, but in all likelihood, it would not affect people who have already received work authorization.

James W. Wimberly (21:04):

So, if I get this right, this is designed not only to avoid chilling or discouraging illegals from making complaints or being witnesses on labor law violations, but to actually make such claims as it increases the possibility of them being allowed to remain in the country.

James L. Hughes (21:29):

That's right.

James W. Wimberly (21:30):

Okay, &lt;laugh>.

James L. Hughes (21:33):

Now let's talk about strategies for labor shortages. Well, certainly automation is the wave of the future. It's hard to go into a fast food place and not see some kiosk &lt;laugh> that you have to go to and enter your order. Of course, you've got staffing companies. Some employers are considering part-time workers or flexible scheduling, with some finding that helpful, some finding it not very helpful. Do you have any comment on that, Jim?

James W. Wimberly (22:08):

Yes. In many industries, the thought of having part-time workers and flexible scheduling or flex work, where two workers hold the same job, was not deemed practical. At this labor conference, the same one I talked about that I attended a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to hear some companies actually using these procedures, and they seemed to be pleased with them, although it didn't involve a large number. I do want to comment on staffing companies. Really, I think of two concepts of staffing companies. One are the job temp agencies, the Manpowers of the world. The other are labor contractors that come in and hire workers, and in some cases supervise them. They're really two sides of the same general concept, and questions often arise as to whether the customer, the facility, is liable for immigration violations committed by the staffing companies. The general rule is the customer is not liable unless it has actual constructive knowledge that the staffing company is hiring unauthorized workers. That's a heavy burden, to me. That's my only comment.

James L. Hughes (23:43):

Okay. Some employers can use remote workers. That's not necessarily helpful in a manufacturing or production environment. Some employers have begun working with prison and transitional centers and work release programs to try and fill in gaps in their workforce. Of course, higher pay and attendance bonuses are an incentive to try and keep and attract workers. And like I mentioned before, childcare assistance may be something that is a wave of the future for employers because it's become so expensive on an individual family basis. And if an employer does not mind satisfying some of the state laws regarding childcare, they may be able to attract workers by providing childcare assistance.

James W. Wimberly (24:45):

Let, let me add to that, that an increasing number of large facilities are providing clinics on the premises, and most companies that are providing clinics seem to be pleased with them. It's usually contracted to a group that specializes in that type of service. So it is a growing trend.

James L. Hughes (25:11):

When you, when you talk about clinics, what are you...?

James W. Wimberly (25:13):

Healthcare. Okay, doctors, nurses.

James L. Hughes (25:16):

Okay. Of course, you're already familiar with skills training and state unemployment offices, but you need to consider whether you can find workers pursuant to existing immigration laws. If you need a worker who might be considered a professional, but who is not a U.S. citizen, there is a category referred to as H-1B. So a company can petition to bring in non-U.S. workers to work in a professional capacity. Usually these people have to have at least a college degree, and they must be entering the United States to perform services in an area consistent with that college degree. We've talked about H-2A seasonal agricultural, and H-2B seasonal or temporary non-agricultural workers.

James L. Hughes (26:27):

There is a category called L-1A that allows you to bring in managers or executives from your international operations who are citizens of other countries, but they have to demonstrate that they are managers or executives in your actual international operations. So, for example, if you have a parent or subsidiary in Europe and you need to transfer a manager or executive to the United States, L-1A is the way to do that. Also, L-1B allows an employer to bring in workers from an international operations who have specialized knowledge. They may have a special skillset that is needed in the United States, and the L-1B process is a way to bring that worker in.

James L. Hughes (27:30):

Then we have parole. There are people here in the United States who have parole status and who have been granted work authorization pursuant to their parole status. We've already talked about Temporary Protected Status. There may be countries in the future who are given Temporary Protected Status, and those people who come from those countries may be eligible for work authorization in the United States. Some employers are finding that they can obtain workers pursuant to what used to be called the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA. During the Trump administration, it was changed to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. And the Trump administration basically continued this category of workers that existed under NAFTA. You're still talking about bringing in professional-level people. That would include accountants, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, scientists, teachers, and other categories that are considered professions. They have to be either a citizen of Canada or Mexico. They have to be in a qualifying profession. They have to be coming to work in the United States in a position that requires a NAFTA professional. Their employment in the United States has to be prearranged. That means that you as the employer have identified this Canadian citizen who has the qualifications to come and work in a NAFTA professional position at your company.

James W. Wimberly (29:38):

Jim, let me, let me ask you about that. I'm hearing that some employers are seeking immigrants under this TN, formerly TN designation, to hold management positions. Mm-hmm &lt;affirmative>. And it, you know, it might be a manufacturing plant management position, and it wouldn't necessarily be one that we might consider a professional, like an engineer or doctor or lawyer, et cetera.

James L. Hughes (30:09):

Yeah. Well, there's,

James W. Wimberly (30:09):

Could that

James L. Hughes (30:10):

Possibly apply? Yeah, there are certain other categories. I didn't go through the entire list, but if

James W. Wimberly (30:16):

So, this is a realistic possibility for some type of skilled workers.

James L. Hughes (30:21):

Correct.

James W. Wimberly (30:22):

Okay.

James L. Hughes (30:23):

Who would traditionally be thought of as a profession? Any other questions? No. Okay. Now, there are immigration laws for permanent workers. So for example, if you were able to bring in an executive or manager from your international operations, you could also apply for permanent resident status for that worker. There are skilled workers who can obtain permanent resident status. It's

James W. Wimberly (31:07):

Don't you have to show that you can't hire somebody in that job?

James L. Hughes (31:11):

Yeah, that, that's typically a requirement. You, you have to show that there's no available U.S. worker, which is sometimes hard to do &lt;laugh>. You also have to advertise the position, make application to the USCIS. And in some cases, depending on where the worker is from, what his home country is, you may have to wait a long time before the worker gets permanent resident status. The same thing is true of unskilled workers. Now refugees and asylees, wait,

James W. Wimberly (31:52):

Come back to unskilled workers. Okay. What do you mean? The same thing as heard with them, that if you, what do you mean

James L. Hughes (31:58):

By that? You have to go through the advertising process. You have to demonstrate that there's no available U.S. worker. You have,

James W. Wimberly (32:06):

But conceptually it could apply to an unskilled worker. Yes. You can't hire, okay. Yes. But the, the... Can give us an idea of the timeframes of

James L. Hughes (32:19):

How... Well, it depends in part on the country the worker is from. So it can be relatively short, two to three years before it's approved.

James W. Wimberly (32:30):

That's the short part, two to three years. Okay. I just wanted to let everybody know that this is not a short-term solution. &lt;Laugh>.

James L. Hughes (32:38):

Yeah. Now, refugees and asylees, once they have refugee or asylee status, you can basically think of them as workers who have indefinite work authorization. Now it's different if they're an applicant for status, and you have to, that applicant for asylee status needs to renew their work authorization before it expires.

James W. Wimberly (33:07):

Now, now Jim, I want to focus on this because I'm getting a lot of questions or have questions myself about how that works. First of all, these refugees and asylees, that's potentially a large base of relatively low-skill labor, right?

James L. Hughes (33:26):

Potentially, yeah.

James W. Wimberly (33:27):

Okay. So it's one of the areas that the average manufacturing plant, processing plant, et cetera, might seek labor. And you mentioned that in addition to being an asylee, they have to update their work authorization.

James L. Hughes (33:46):

Applicants for asylum status have to update their work authorization. Okay. So, okay. You need to know whether your person is an actual asylee who's been granted asylum status, or the person is merely an applicant for asylum status. The applicant for asylum status has to continue to renew their work authorization to maintain that. But once you employ an asylee or a refugee, and they've given you the documents required for the I-9, you do not have to update their status.

James W. Wimberly (34:35):

Now Jim, I don't know whether you want to spend any time on this, but I've had inquiries or about issues as to whether an asylee who's applied or an asylee applicant applied for asylum could remain in the country with work authorization right up until their hearing date, which might be a considerable period of time in the future. What do you have to say about that issue?

James L. Hughes (35:06):

It, that's certainly possible. So

James W. Wimberly (35:09):

This may affect some of your workers. And Jim, I don't know whether now is a good time. I know I've raised the issue that many of us have TPS workers who at some point in the future currently have an expiration date, the TPS status, and where many of them might qualify to remain in the country and be authorized to work under some other status as well. And what steps a company might take to retain those workers? Are you going to comment on that, or is this a good time to comment on it?

James L. Hughes (35:50):

Well, I, I can comment on that. When a worker changes status or attempts to change status, the status that they have, let's take for example, let's say a TPS worker has TPS status and wants to change to asylum status. Generally, they will not have authorization to work once their TPS work authorization expires. They have to receive new work authorization based on their application for asylum status before they can continue working.

James W. Wimberly (36:47):

What concerns me is the average employer who has someone with TPS status may think they have to let them go by a certain date, and these people won't be able to qualify under another status. What can or should an employer do to try to retain as many workers as they can?

James L. Hughes (37:09):

Well, you can certainly... I've recommended that an employer have group meetings or individual meetings to try and motivate employees to either renew their current work authorization status or to apply for a different status. Usually employers want that employee to be responsible for those applications. And, and I have no problem with that. I, I think that's the right approach for most employers to put the burden on the employee. Now, an employer can provide information to employees about how an employee can find a lawyer that will help them through the process.

James W. Wimberly (38:02):

Is the concern here, if the employer gets too involved in it, it may acquire firsthand knowledge that the worker is unauthorized and therefore can't be employed?

James L. Hughes (38:14):

Yes. &lt;laugh>

James W. Wimberly (38:15):

&lt;Laugh>,

James L. Hughes (38:17):

Yeah. The employer may not want to know something.

James W. Wimberly (38:22):

Okay. Now let me ask the other question. I think you know where I'm coming from on this. And I'm going to take the Haitian example, since so many of our clients have been confronted with that. They're facing the end of the TPS of August 3rd, I believe it is. I have suggested what are the pros and cons of notifying each person designated from company records as a Haitian TPS, that their TPS will expire on such and such a date. And if they have work authorization or eligibility for work authorization under some other program, they need to come in and update their I-9 forms so they can remain employed beyond the end of the TPS of their current work status.

James L. Hughes (39:15):

Yes. That's good. I agree with that.

James W. Wimberly (39:17):

Okay. So that's something I, I thought that might be a way to encourage our persons who would otherwise lose their employment to do the right thing and possibly remain employed.

James L. Hughes (39:34):

There are some nonprofit organizations that can help connect employers with refugees and asylees. I put on the screen the addresses and contact information for those organizations in the Atlanta area. Some of these organizations also have offices in other parts of the country, so you may want to pursue workers with those organizations. The one on the left, the Tent Partnership for Refugees, was an employer-developed organization that has connections with refugees and asylees coming into the United States. And as an employer, you may want to join that organization to see if it can benefit you by providing workers. Some of the resources that you may want to consider are provided by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and they talk about the reasons for labor shortages, the effect of government benefit programs on employees. So you may want to consider those.

James W. Wimberly (40:54):

Let me say that we've never had one of these webinars where we didn't get your questions &lt;laugh>, and particularly where it's such an important, controversial, and changing subject. It changes daily, sometimes hourly.

James L. Hughes (41:11):

Okay. Ashlyn, go ahead.

Speaker 3 (41:13):

Okay. So one question I do have regarding the refugee and asylee status, you had mentioned that the employer no longer has to re-verify the employee once they have been approved and granted the refugee or asylee status. Does that obtain a different category? Is it no longer C08 after that point?

James L. Hughes (41:38):

A person who has been granted refugee or asylee status, when you complete their Form I-9, you are instructed in the employer's handbook to just note that their employment authorization has no expiration. Now, they may have a card that has an expiration date on it, but if they have a category showing that they are a refugee or have been granted asylum status, they can continue to work, and you do not have to update their work authorization. The only difference is with an applicant for asylum status; the applicant for asylum status, you have to continue to update their work authorization.

James W. Wimberly (42:37):

So it's a big difference whether an applicant or it's already been granted.

James L. Hughes (42:41):

That's right.

Speaker 3 (42:42):

So how would the employer know once it's been granted?

James L. Hughes (42:46):

Okay, on their EAD, there is a category, and I don't have the categories in front of me, but I think the one for asylum application,

Speaker 3 (43:04):

I also have a follow-up question. So from the employer's point of view, if they, if the employee does not tell us, say they were denied the status, would we go off of the expiration date on their EAD or would we now be liable since they've been denied, even if they hadn't told us?

James L. Hughes (43:27):

If the employee doesn't tell you that they've been denied, you're not going to know. But

James W. Wimberly (43:35):

But at the end of their current EAD, you certainly would likely need to invite them to a discussion on what their current status is, I would think.

James L. Hughes (43:49):

Yes, I would do that.

James W. Wimberly (43:53):

Because you have to keep up with it. And if it's been granted, Jim, asylum status, presumably there's some documents they would have to provide for you to update their...

James L. Hughes (44:14):

EAD, right? That's right. Just looked up the category code for asylees. If their EAD has a category code of A5, they are already granted asylum status. If the category code is C8, then they have applied for asylum status. So if you look at their EAD and you see a category C8, they are only an applicant for asylum status, and they need to continue to update their work authorization.

James W. Wimberly (44:56):

So help me on this, Jim. Don't various companies have different approaches as to how to alert the employee to the ending dates and so forth, to encourage them to complete the process or come and talk to the employer about their situation?

James L. Hughes (45:21):

Right. Many of the employers that I deal with usually have a tickler system notifying them that an employee's work authorization might expire in 90, 60, 30 days. So they try and notify employees of the pending expiration of work authorization. Particularly if you want to keep the employee, you want to make sure that that employee has done what they need to do to continue to have work authorization. So I would certainly recommend doing that. Now,

James W. Wimberly (46:02):

Jim, I don't know how much you want to get into this, but my understanding is that these applications for asylum status for those that have applied are currently kind of in limbo. And how does that affect their ongoing work authorization and what's the situation there?

James L. Hughes (46:25):

Okay. Certainly it has been reported that the Trump administration has paused processing of refugee and asylee applications. That may affect whether they process work authorization renewals, but there is litigation going on about that.

James W. Wimberly (46:51):

But they can still apply for renewal of their work authorization even though their application for asylum has not been granted.

James L. Hughes (47:00):

Right. So for example, let's say someone has commenced employment with you based on work authorization indicating they have applied for asylum status. As their work authorization comes up to an expiration date, if they apply before their work authorization expires for an extension of their work authorization in the same category—so C8, if they're currently C08 and they apply for an extension in category C08—then they may be eligible for an automatic extension of as much as 540 days. And hopefully during that time, they will receive a new current EAD, but we'll see how things are processed during the Trump administration.

James W. Wimberly (48:10):

Let me ask you this, but as I understand it, so the processing of the existing applications has been paused, and they're not currently taking new applications.

James L. Hughes (48:21):

That's right.

James W. Wimberly (48:22):

But you can see all the inducements an employer has that desires to retain personnel to give these tickler notifications to their workforce, the affected persons, to encourage them to renew their work authorization. And there is a strong argument why the work authorizations ought to be granted pending the hearing on the asylum issue. We don't know what's going to happen, but all I can say is, the concept is you have to be present in the U.S. to participate in the asylum hearing. And so how can they, you know, push you out prior to the hearing? Thank you for your participation. We appreciate it.