Academic talent knows no national boundaries. Your top candidate for an open faculty position could very well be a foreign national, and you need to be prepared to handle his or her immigration issues. Being well-versed in immigration law, or having access to someone who is, will help the search committee assess a candidate’s chances of becoming eligible to live and work in the United States and aid your faculty recruitment and retention efforts by showing the candidate that your institution/department will help in the immigration process.