Department of Homeland Security June 5, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The designation of Honduras for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is set to expire on July 5, 2018. After reviewing country conditions and consulting with appropriate U.S. Government agencies, the Secretary of Homeland Security has determined that because conditions in Honduras no longer support its designation for TPS, termination of the TPS designation of Honduras is required by statute. To provide time for an orderly transition, the Secretary is terminating the designation effective on January 5, 2020, which is 18 months following the end of the current designation. Nationals of Honduras (and aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Honduras) who have been granted TPS and would like to maintain their TPS and receive TPS-based Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) valid through January 5, 2020, must re- register for TPS in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Notice. After January 5, 2020, nationals of Honduras (and aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Honduras) who have been granted TPS under the Honduras designation will no longer have TPS.

In accordance with the Great Lakes Pilotage Act of 1960, the Coast Guard is establishing new base pilotage rates and surcharges for the 2018 shipping season. Additionally, the Coast Guard is making several changes to the Great Lakes pilotage ratemaking methodology. These additional changes include creating clear delineation between the Coast Guard's annual rate adjustments and the Coast Guard's requirement to conduct a full ratemaking every 5 years; the adoption of a revised compensation benchmark; reorganization of the text regarding the staffing model for calculating the number of pilots needed; and certain editorial changes.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes two changes that would apply to surety companies certified by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to underwrite bonds on behalf of the Federal Government. First, the proposed rule would require Treasury-certified sureties seeking to overturn a surety immigration bond breach determination to exhaust administrative remedies by filing an administrative appeal raising all legal and factual defenses. This requirement to exhaust administrative remedies and present all issues to the administrative tribunal would allow Federal district courts to review a written decision addressing all of the surety's defenses, thereby streamlining litigation over the breach determination's validity. Second, this proposed rule would set forth ``for cause'' standards and due process protections so that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of DHS, may decline bonds from companies that do not cure their deficient performance. Treasury administers the Federal corporate surety program and, in its current regulations, allows agencies to prescribe in their regulations for cause standards and procedures for declining to accept bonds from a Treasury-certified surety company. DHS proposes the for cause standards contained in this rule because certain surety companies have failed to pay amounts due on administratively final bond breach determinations or have had in the past unacceptably high breach rates.