The Center for Immigration Studies released a report confirming that a biometric exit-tracking system for foreign visitors departing by air or sea is feasible now at a reasonable cost. CIS concludes “There is thus no justification for putting off the implementation of such a system until after an amnesty” for illegal aliens, as the Senate-passed bill provides.
The House-version of the Senate's Startup Act 2.0 was introduced by a group of Members from both sides of the aisle today. The bipartisan group of House members behind the bill includes Republicans Michael Grimm (N.Y.), Kevin Yoder (Kan.), Devin Nunes (Calif.) and Robert Dold (Ill.) and Democrats Loretta Sanchez (Calif.), Russ Carnahan (Mo.) and Jared Polis (Colo.).
The State Department last week announced major changes to the J-1 Summer Work and Travel Program, which include new rules that would protect American workers.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who also serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter Monday to the State and Homeland Security departments, raising questions about Boeing's use of B-1 visas to bring Russian contract engineers into the country.
Information Technology firm and high-tech industry powerhouse, Infosys, is being accused of bringing low-paid foreign wokers to the U.S. illegally, CBS News is reporting.
The allegations come from Jay Palmer, a principal consultant at Infosys. According to Palmer, Infosys engaged in systematic practice of visa fraud. Palmer's charges are the center of a federal probe.
The Obama administration is proposing to make it easier for illegal aliens who are family members of American citizens to apply for legal permanent residency, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which wants to reduce immigration, said Brown's bill will end up hurting American workers of all races and ethnic backgrounds.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote an op-ed that was published in The Daily Iowan calling for fixes to the nation's visa system that would help make it easier for American college graduates to find jobs this spring.
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have sent a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas raising concerns over potential fraud within the L-1B visa program. The L-1B visa is a temporary work visa that allows foreign workers with "specialized skills" who are employed by a U.S. based company to work in a U.S. office for up to seven years.
The Department of Homeland Security is finalizing its plan for a biometric data system to track when immigrants leave the United States and will present it to Congress within weeks, a DHS top official said today during a Congressional hearing. This comes weeks after DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the current biographical data works well and said there were no plans to implement an exit system.
The White House is following up on an offer made by President Obama for Darin Wedel, a semiconductor engineer, according to a report by Computer World. The offer was made during a live online town hall, sponsored by Google, after Darin's wife, Jennifer questioned the government's policy concerning H-1B visa workers.
The Department of Homeland Security announced a series of reforms that reflect the Obama Administration's continuing commitment to attracting and retaining highly-skilled immigrants. The Administration's new initiatives will lead to increased work permits for foreign workers while 22 million Americans can't find a full-time job.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) responded to President Obama's announcement on Thursday to relax tourist visa requirements. Pres. Obama went to Orlando, Fla. to offer a proposal that includes waiving in-person interviews for certain foreign nationals as required under the law. Senator Grassley serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over immigration policy.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that a draft copy of a report he requested from the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's office confirmed the accounts he heard from whistleblowers about the pressure placed on Immigration Service Officers to quickly approve visas even in the cases of fraud and eligibility.
On January 1st, new immigration rules took effect in France that will cut legal immigration by ten percent and make becoming a citizen more difficult. Interior Minister Claude Guéant plans to achieve the cuts by reducing the number of work visas given out each year and slowing family reunification.
With a U.S. unemployment rate at 8.6%, one would expect that many of the high paying job openings available domestically are a positive sign for jobless Americans. However, that has not been the case. According to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department, U.S. companies have hired foreign workers at an expeditious pace.
Bloomberg News hosted a round table last week of business leaders and academia to discuss, in addition to many other topics, how they could get more foreign workers to the United States. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made an appearance at the panel and his statement to the group sounded off some alarms. Rep. Cantor said he sympathized with their concerns and, through his leadership position in Congress, would work to find ways to increase the number of available foreign workers.
Washington, D.C. area bricklayers are upset that stonemasons from China are being used to build the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the National Mall, the Washington Post reports. "Why do they need to come over to do the work when there are so many people here who can do it?" said the head of the local Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers union.
A new ABC story highlights the abuse of Birthright Citizenship, and the growing popularity of "Birth Tourism" among foreign visitors. U.S. hotels are offering birth packages that offer expecting mothers a hotel suite for two months so they can give birth in the United States, awarding automatic citizenship to their newborn child.
While nearly 3 million Americans lost their jobs in 2009, the federal government issued more than 1 million new Green Cards over the same period of time. According to a new DHS report, 1,130,818 new Green Cards were issued to legal immigrants last year - the highest single-year number since 2006 and the fourth highest in history.
NumbersUSA President and Founder Roy Beck headed to the National Mall on Sunday, March 21 to try and discuss the impact of illegal immigration and high immigration numbers with the pro-amnesty marchers. Needless to say, Roy received a less-than-warm welcome from the pro-amnesty supporters.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who also serves as the Vice-Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the committee's chair urging him to consider a bill that would put an end to the Visa Lottery (H.R. 2305).
The evolution of the H-1B visa program provides an early Halloween scare.
Officials estimate that 40 percent of illegal aliens first came into the country legally and overstayed their visa. The reason - the United States has no entry/exit system to determine when someone who enters the country actually leaves.
An immigration panel set up by the Brookings Institution and Duke University has advocated that the current "diversity" visa lottery be abolished, tighter restrictions be placed on family-based immigration, and that workplace verification be required before any amnesty is considered.
Recently, an article in a large newspaper caught my eye with a quote from a farmer in words that were so perfect for the “comprehensive reform” amnesty crowd that it seemed like a lobbyist had coached him on what to say. So, over a 2-week period I tried to contact him, and I finally caught up with him a couple of days ago. Our conversation illuminates how decent family farmers have gotten mixed up with the amnesty lobby.
In March 2009, Pres. Barack Obama hosted a health care summit at the White House where he addressed the nursing shortage. Pres. Obama said he favored improving conditions for American nurses before importing foreign nurses to fill open jobs.
According to a Business Week report, there are more than 100,000 open nursing positions in the United States with more nurses likely needed should the Obama Administration successfully reform health care this summer, which would insure millions of uninsured Americans. Many health care facilities want to import foreign nurses, but President Obama and the nurses' unions want to improve conditions for American nurses.
A NumbersUSA report shows that President-Elect Barack Obama's job stimulus plan, if successful, would have no impact on joblessness in America whatsoever if our immigration policy remains unchanged.
The Bush Administration has launched an initiative with the help of IBM for changing the way immigration applications for visas, citizenship and approval to work in the United States are handled. The five-year, $500 million effort would convert the case-management system for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from paper to electronic.
The new system would allow other federal agencies to access immigration records faster. It would save time from the paper files and reduce the labor-intensive filing system currently in place.
A flow chart examining the categories of migrants recognized under U.S. law.
According to a report in the Washington Post, the Bush administration plans to remove visa requirements for citizens of seven allied countries. Requirements could be lifted for citizens from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and South Korea as early as next month.
On September 27, the Senate cleared a Continuing Resolution (CR; H.R. 2638) that, among other things, extends the E-Verify program through March 6, 2009. The inclusion of a short-term E-Verify extension in the CR was a bittersweet development. Although E-Verify will survive for four more months, the reauthorization battle will need to be fought all over again with a new President in the White House who may or may not support the program.
"Congress is leaning toward a guest worker-type program as one means of addressing illegal immigration, 1st District Congressman John Sullivan said Friday at a Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce breakfast."
One of the proposals being looked at is a card for those who want to work here that would be good for, let's say, three to five years," Sullivan said. "There'd be some sort of biometric identification and a background check to make sure they're not a criminal. They'd be able to work here, and they'd also pay taxes...."
But NumbersUSA Government Affairs Director Rosemary Jenks says the Hispanic Caucus’ blockade is probably temporary.
