Chamber of Commerce v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Tab Group

Merits Stage

Ninth Circuit grants government’s motion to voluntarily dismiss its appeal

December 2, 2021

Click here to view the order.

Department of Homeland Security voluntarily dismisses its appeal from district court decision

November 30, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security voluntarily dismissed its Ninth Circuit appeal from the district court decision vacating Lottery Rule, which sought to price many highly skilled laborers out of the United States market. The U.S. Chamber brought this suit to challenge two immigration regulations, both of which the district court invalidated. With this dismissal, the suit is now over.

District court vacates Department of Homeland Security’s Lottery Rule

September 15, 2021

Click here to view the order. The court previously vacated the other immigration regulation challenged in this case, the Department of Labor’s Prevailing Wage Rule.

U.S. Chamber files reply in support of its motion for summary judgment, and opposition to the government’s cross-motion for summary judgment, in challenge to the DHS’s Lottery Rule, which would price many skilled laborers out out of the U.S. market

August 6, 2021

Click here to view the brief.

U.S. Chamber files motion for summary judgment against the Department of Homeland Security’s 2020 Lottery Rule for H1-B applicants

June 25, 2021

Click here to view the motion.

District Court vacates and remands the Labor Department’s Prevailing Wage Rule, which would have priced many skilled laborers out of the United States market

June 23, 2021

Click here to view the order. The Chamber’s challenge to the Homeland Security Department’s Lottery Rule will continue.

In response to the government’s motion for a voluntary remand of the Prevailing Wage Rule, U.S. Chamber and coalition file response emphasizing the need for vacatur of the rule, which the government does not oppose

June 10, 2021

Click here to view the brief.

District Court grants the Chamber’s motion for leave to amend its prior complaint, which challenged the interim DOL prevailing wage rule, to add claims challenging the final prevailing wage rule and the DHS lottery rule

April 15, 2021

Click here to view the order permitting supplementation. As a result, the very capable judge who presided over our earlier, successful challenge will decide our new challenges.

U.S. Chamber leads coalition filing amended complaint to challenge two new regulations

March 19, 2021

The amended complaint challenges the Labor Department’s final Prevailing Wage Rule and the Homeland Security Department’s Lottery Rule, both of which drive up wages for employment-based visas, pricing skilled laborers out of the U.S. market.

U.S. Chamber successfully blocks DOL & DHS’s attempt to rewrite the H1-B, etc. visa rules without notice and comment

December 1, 2020

The Northern District of California issued a judgment against both DHS and DOL H-1B rules, vacating both.

U.S. Chamber and coalition of plaintiffs file reply brief in support of motion for preliminary injunction and partial summary judgment

November 13, 2020

The reply brief argued that DHS and DOL failed to follow notice-and-comment procedures before finalizing H-1B regulations that will cost employers billions of dollars.

U.S. Chamber leads coalition in filing motion for preliminary injunction and partial summary judgment against DHS and DOL rules that would fundamentally undermine the H-1B visa program for employers

October 23, 2020

The motion argues that the agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act in failing to follow notice-and-comment rulemaking before making the rules final.

U.S. Chamber leads coalition of business and higher education plaintiffs in lawsuit to challenge DHS and DOL rules that would devastate high-skilled immigration under the H-1B visa program

October 19, 2020

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and others filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California against recent regulations that will undermine high skilled immigration into the United States. The complaint alleges that the DHS and DOL rules were promulgated as final rules without following the notice-and-comment requirements or rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act, and also exceed the agencies’ statutory authority and are arbitrary and capricious.

U.S. Chamber CEO Thomas J. Donohue released the following statement after the suit was filed:

“The rules being implemented by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor undermine high-skilled immigration in the U.S. and a company’s ability to retain and recruit the very best talent. If these rules are allowed to stand, they will devastate companies across various industries. The Chamber is proud to join our partners in fighting against these measures that will discourage investment, diminish economic growth, and impede job creation in the U.S.”

In July, the Chamber led a coalition of organizations in a lawsuit challenging federal restrictions on businesses' ability to meet their workforce needs through lawful immigration. Chamber CEO Donohue penned an op-ed in the New York Times outlining the suit and why these policies are bad for business.

Paul W. Hughes, Sarah P. Hogarth, and William G. Gaede, III of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and the U.S. Chamber’s Litigation Center served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber.