Green Card
5 Ways DACA Renews the Conversation on Immigration Reform
There’s no doubt that recent implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative is the biggest thing to happen in immigration law in many years. While most of the attention is currently focused on how to make it work, how to apply and how to work out the kinks, it’s important to take a macro view at the ways this program can actually renew the entire conversation on immigration reform. Read More
VIDEO: Overstock.com President: Highly Skilled Immigrants Create Jobs and Innovation
Fox Business News July 12, 2012 In an interview on Fox Business News, Partnership member Jonathan Johnson, president of Overstock.com, makes the economic case for legal immigration reform and the need to remove federal caps on visas for highly skilled foreign-born students, inventors and entrepreneurs: “In my view, when… Read More
Why the Next Einstein Can’t Get a Visa
By Shelby Pasell. Though Einstein may be a household name in the United States, he was not born here, and he would have a hard time obtaining a visa if he were alive today. In fact, inventors behind most patents in the U.S. were born outside of the country, according to a new report by the Partnership for a New American Economy, and most face huge difficulty in obtaining visas to stay. Read More
DC Passes Act Limiting District’s Response to ICE’s Immigration Detainers
Today, ICE activated the Secure Communities program in Washington, DC, sparking fear in immigrant communities that the program will result in racial profiling and the deportation of non-priority immigrants as it has in other jurisdictions. With Secure Communities active, the fingerprints of all persons booked into DC jails will be sent to the FBI and will then be forwarded to DHS to be checked against federal immigration databases. If ICE decides to take action against an immigrant identified through the program, they place a detainer on the individual—a request asking DC police to hold the person for up to 48 hours so ICE can take custody. However, in a move praised by immigration advocates, the DC Council passed an emergency act today limiting the District’s response to detainer requests. Read More
U.S. Losing High-Skilled Workers to Australia, Canada, and China, Report Says
By Shelby Pasell. “As our competitors press ahead with strategic policies suited to a global century, how much longer can America afford to drift with an immigration regime built in 1965?” This is the question addressed in recent report by the Partnership for a New American Economy and The Partnership for New York City. According to the report, as other countries simplify and expand their immigration programs to attract entrepreneurs and high-skilled workers, the U.S. maintains an old system that makes it difficult for much needed workers to secure a visa. By 2018, the U.S. will face a projected shortfall of 223,800 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) workers, but even for graduates of these programs, visas are limited and there is no secure path towards permanent residency. Read More
Standardizing Guidelines Would Improve USCIS’s Proposed Family Unity Waiver Rule
Earlier this year, USCIS proposed a new waiver rule that would allow some unauthorized immigrants (mostly direct family members of U.S. citizens) who are applying for a green card to apply for a waiver to the 3 and 10 year bar from within the United States, minimizing the amount of time they would have to be away from their families. While many welcome this proposed rule change, there are ways in which USCIS could streamline this process. In addition to previously suggested improvements, USCIS could provide training and guidelines on the extreme hardship standard to ensure that the standard is applied consistently. The “comment period,” which is open to the public and can be used to suggest improvements to the rule, end this Friday, June 1. Read More
In California, Lawmakers Mount New Challenge to Secure Communities
Last year, lawmakers in California were poised to pass a bill—known as the TRUST Act—to let local jurisdictions opt out of Secure Communities, the federal program that routes fingerprints taken at local jails to federal immigration authorities. Before final passage, however, federal officials rendered the bill moot by declaring that participation in the program was mandatory. Now, lawmakers are considering a revised version of the bill that would minimize the impact of Secure Communities by limiting the ability of local governments to detain immigrants on the federal government’s behalf. Read More
Administration Takes Step to Keep Talented Foreign Students in the U.S.
BY HEATHER M. STEWART, COUNSEL AND DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION POLICY AT NAFSA: ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS. Current U.S. immigration law provides few options for foreign graduates of U.S. universities with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (“STEM” degrees) who want to stay here to contribute their skills and knowledge. Not enough American students are interested in these fields, even as employers regularly cannot find enough people with the high-tech and scientific knowledge and skills they need to fill available positions. Luckily for the United States, international students seek out these majors and excel in them. But increasingly, we lose these talented graduates to other competitor countries where immigration laws are friendlier. This is, of course, an enormous loss to the U.S. economy, as international students with STEM degrees often create successful businesses and jobs in the United States. Last week, DHS took a strong step forward by expanding the list of STEM fields for foreign graduates applying to training programs after graduation. Read More
America’s Demographic Challenge
The US faces an aging population, fewer workers and a slower economy. Immigrants can reverse that. The United States needs immigrant workers as its workforce ages. In 2012, the median age of the American worker will be the highest in its history at 41.6 years old. As birth rates fall… Read More
Alabama Governor Rejects Changes to State’s Extreme Immigration Law, Starts Special Legislative Session
Today, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced his disapproval of a bill intended to change parts of the state’s extreme immigration law (HB 56) and initiated a special legislative session to address the problems. Yesterday, on the last day of the state’s regular legislative session, the Alabama Senate… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
