International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen v. Meese
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
616 F.Supp. 1387 (1985)
Homestake Mining Company purchased a gold ore processing system from the German company Diedier-Werke, contingent on Diedier-Werke sending its own employees to install it at the mine site. Relying on INS Operations Instruction 214.2(b)(5), the U.S. consulate in Bonn approved 'temporary visitor for business' visas for the German installation workers without requiring the normal labor certification process. After the workers entered the country, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen (plaintiff) sued the Attorney General, Secretary of State, and INS, seeking a declaration that the Operations Instruction violated the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and an injunction against issuing further visas under it; Homestake intervened as an interested party.
Whether a group of alien workers may receive visas to perform labor incident to a commercial purchase without complying with the normal labor certification process.