Trump

Subscribe to Trump via RSS

Trump’s immigration Executive Orders address “enhanced vetting” of visa applicants, birthright citizenship and border security, among other things. Likely increasing ICE enforcement actions, including employer site visits and raids at workplaces, one of the EOs establishes a new “Homeland Security Task Force” enabling federal, state and local law cooperation in removing undocumented individuals.

As part…

President Trump has taken quick action to ramp up immigration enforcement in his first days in office. While Trump’s early focus on deportations and border security is not new, the swift and aggressive enforcement approach represents a significant change as compared to prior administrations. These actions have led to arrests and heightened concerns among employers and employees alike.

What do employers need to know?

Since Trump’s inauguration, there has been a significant increase in targeted enforcement measures against individuals present in the United States who are not U.S. citizens who have a criminal record, and also recent arrivals to the United States who do not hold lawful immigration status. The vast majority of immigration enforcement since January 20 has occurred in private residences and public spaces, though there have been immigration enforcement actions at worksites. There have not been reports of wide-scale worksite raids yet, though the focus may shift to worksite inspections in the next wave of enforcement activities.

Worksite enforcement inspections can take a variety of shapes. In particular, employers should be prepared for the following:

  • Fraud audits in relation to employer-sponsored visa holders;
  • Administrative I-9 audits;
  • Arrests of targeted individuals; or
  • Raids based on suspicion of undocumented workers at worksite facility.

Continue Reading The Post-Inauguration Playbook: Spotlight on Immigration Enforcement and Raids

On January 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, President Trump revoked Executive Order 14110 on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (the “Biden Order”), signed by President Biden in October 2023. In doing so, President Trump fulfilled a campaign pledge to roll back the Biden Order, which the 2024 Republican platform described as a “dangerous” measure. Then on January 23, 2025, President Trump issued his own Executive Order on AI, entitled Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (the “Trump Order”). Here, we examine some of the practical implications of the repeal and replacement of executive orders by Trump and what it means for businesses.

Overview of the Executive Orders

Building on the White House’s 2022 Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, the Biden Order outlined a sweeping vision for the future of AI within the federal government, including seven high-level objectives: (1) Ensuring the Safety and Security of AI Technology; (2) Promoting Innovation and Competition; (3) Supporting Workers; (4) Advancing Equity and Civil Rights.; (4) Protecting Consumers, Patients, Passengers, and Students; (5) Protecting Privacy; (6) Advancing Federal Government Use of AI; and (7) Strengthening American Leadership Abroad.

The Biden Order directed various measures across the federal apparatus –imposing 150 distinct requirements on more than 50 federal agencies and other government entities, representing a genuinely whole-of-government response.

Although the bulk of the Biden Order is addressed to federal agencies, some of its provisions had potentially significant impacts on private sector entities. For example, the Biden Order directed the Commerce Department to require developers to report on the development of higher risk AI systems.  Similarly, the Biden order directed the Commerce Department to establish requirements for domestic Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers to report to the government whenever they contract with foreign parties for the training of large AI models. The Biden Order also open-endedly instructed federal agencies to use existing consumer protection laws to enforce against fraud, unintended bias, discrimination, infringements on privacy, and other harms from AI—a directive various federal regulators actioned under the Biden administration.

Other than the definition of AI, the Trump Order and Biden Order share no similarities (both Orders point to the AI definition from 15 U.S.C. 9401(3), namely: “a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments”). The Trump Order does not contain specific directives (such as those in the Biden Order), but instead articulates the national AI policy to “sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.” The Trump Order directs a few specific roles within the administration to develop an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan within 180 days (i.e., by July 22, 2025) to achieve the policy objective articulated in the Trump Order. The Trump Order directs these same roles within the administration to review the policies, directives, regulations, orders, and other actions taken pursuant to the Biden Order and to suspend, revise, or rescind any such actions that are inconsistent with the Trump Order’s stated policy. In cases where suspension, revision, or rescission of the prior action cannot be finalized immediately, the heads of agencies are instructed to “to provide all available exemptions” in the interim.

Practical Impacts

The practical effect of the revocation of the Biden Order—and the options available under the Trump Order—will vary depending on the measure. Although there are widespread impacts from the revocation of the Biden Order’s mandates across multiple initiatives and institutions, below are those that are expected to have a significant impact on private sector entities engaged in the development or use or AI.

Reporting requirement for powerful AI models: As noted, the Biden Order directed the Department of Commerce to establish a requirement for developers to provide reports on “dual-use foundation models” (broadly, models that exhibit high levels performance at tasks that pose a serious risk to security, national economic security, national public health or safety). Pursuant to the Biden Order, the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS), a Commerce Department agency, published a proposed rule to establish reporting requirements on the development of advanced AI models and computing clusters under its Defense Production Act authority, but had not issued a final rule prior to the revocation of the Biden Order. It is likely that the new administration will closely scrutinize this reporting requirement and may take action to block the adoption of the final rule if it is found to be inconsistent with the policy statement in the Trump order.Continue Reading AI Tug-of-War: Trump Pulls Back Biden’s AI Plans

Employers and their workforce are waking up to news this morning of further US travel restrictions given the COVID-19 pandemic. This time, the restrictions affect most travelers from the European Union (EU). The following are highlights of what you need to know today:

Foreign nationals who have visited the Schengen Area in the past 14…

The White House announced on Friday, September 15, 2017, that President Donald Trump has nominated Peter B. Robb to serve as the next General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board.  Robb is a management-side labor and employment attorney, who currently practices in Vermont.  Robb previously worked as a field attorney for the NLRB, a supervisory attorney for the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and then as the Chief Counsel to former NLRB member Robert Hunter (a Republican), who was appointed to the Board in 1981 by President Reagan.  In 1985, Robb began private practice representing company management in labor and employment law.  As the General Counsel, Robb would decide which issues to put before the NLRB for resolution.  A rollback of a number of union-friendly decisions is expected.
Continue Reading Trump Announces Nomination For NLRB General Counsel – What It Means For Employers

After the NLRB’s aggressive pro-union stance during President Obama’s term, the Board is poised for change under President Trump. On January 23, 2017, President Trump named Philip A. Miscimarra—the sole Republican of three current Board Members—Acting Chairman of the Board. Further, as the Board traditionally has five Members, President Trump will nominate two Members to fill the current vacancies. Assuming President Trump nominates two Republicans as expected, the Board will have a Republican majority for the first time in over nine years. Although it is unclear how far the Board will shift from its recent pro-union stance, three key decisions could be overturned by a Republican-controlled Board.
Continue Reading Is a More Business-Friendly NLRB Coming? What it Could Mean for Employers

But wait there’s more. While President Trump’s Executive Order temporarily banning certain foreign nationals from entry into the United States is dominating the headlines these days, employers now have something else to worry about. Under a 2015 law, Section 7345 of the Internal Revenue Code, the State Department has the right to revoke a US…

We are living in uncertain and quickly changing times. Most recently, on January 27, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order that suspends entry into the US for 90 days of certain aliens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. For more information, read here. For US multinational employers, this latest Executive Order immediately begs the question: What action must, or should, a US employer take with respect to its mobile workforce, managers and business leaders?
Continue Reading President Trump’s Executive Order Suspending Entry to the US Raises Employment Law Considerations

As you know, on Friday, January 27, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) suspending entry into the United States of aliens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The suspension will be in place for 90 days and applies to both immigrants and nonimmigrants. Specifically excluded from the EO are foreign nationals traveling on diplomatic visas, North Atlantic Treaty Organization visas, C-2 visas for travel to the United Nations, and G-1, G-2, G-3 and G-4 visas. The EO also grants authority to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to continue issuing visas and other immigration benefits to nationals of otherwise blocked countries, if doing so is deemed to be in the national interest. Such determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Continue Reading President’s Executive Order can impact travel for certain lawfully present non-immigrants and immigrants to the US