A U.S. district judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security filed by American workers who lost their jobs to foreign replacements.
A DHS bid to get the case thrown out on procedural grounds has failed, after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied the motion to dismiss last week. (RELATED: Laid Off Disney Workers File Complaints With Labor Department)
The displaced workers are fighting a new visa rule that will allow more foreign workers into the job market, by granting work permits to the spouses of guest workers.
The judge’s decision ends back and forth procedural maneuvers on both sides trying to bring the suit to a quick end, and it means the case will move to a decision. “The thing that you can read into this is that the court does not consider the case frivolous,” the displaced workers’ attorney, John Miano, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
DHS has already begun implementing the rule, which is expressly designed to encourage guest workers to stick around permanently. An estimated 100,000 spouses of guest workers are immediately eligible for the work permits.
The complaint, filed by the Immigration Reform Law Institute on behalf of the displaced workers, alleges DHS does not have the authority to make the rule, and that the rule violates federal labor protection law.
The workers are former employees of tech giant Southern California Edison, which is under investigation by the Department of Labor for firing hundreds of American workers after forcing them to train their foreign replacements. (RELATED: Feds Expand Investigation Of H-1b Abuses As Calls For Action Intensify)
“The larger implication is that Obama is arguing he has the executive authority to allow anyone to work in the United States,” Miano told TheDCNF in April. “[He] started with the children, then the parents, and now the spouses of H-1B workers.”
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.