Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Demand Soars for Foreign Tech Workers
The Tennessean August 3, 2012 Pietro Valdastri visited Nashville for the first time almost a year ago, not as a tourist but as a new hire. Valdastri joined Vanderbilt University as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in September. In doing so, he left the university where he taught… Read More
ICE Numbers on Prosecutorial Discretion Keep Sliding Downward
Since June 15, the immigration world has largely focused on the impending “deferred action” initiative for individuals who could have qualified for relief under the DREAM Act. Meanwhile, comparatively little attention has been paid to the still ongoing review of more than 300,000 pending removal cases for individuals meriting a favorable exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Although Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not released official statistics from the review for nearly two months, figures derived from a recent media account indicate that the agency is now offering to close cases at less than half the rate as when the initiative began. Read More
Opinion: Why New York Still Welcomes Immigrants
The Wall Street Journal July 27, 2012 Many states across the U.S. have passed restrictive immigration measures in recent years. But New York under Gov. Andrew Cuomo is bucking the trend. “We are a state of immigrants,” he declared in his 2012 State of the State address. “While other… Read More
It’s Foreign Affairs, Stupid
The National Interest July 16, 2012 The economy trumps national security as the country’s top political issue this election cycle. With the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent, this is not surprising. From a long-term strategic perspective, however, the two issues are closely connected. The current economic crisis threatens Americans’… Read More
Some States Attempt to Move Forward on Immigration Laws Following Supreme Court Decision
Prior to the Supreme Court’s recent decision on Arizona SB 1070, other states that passed immigration laws were also embroiled in complicated legal battles. Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Utah all passed restrictive immigration laws, parts of which were challenged in court and subsequently enjoined pending the Supreme Court’s ruling on Arizona. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled, however, each state is now attempting to interpret that ruling in an effort to implement its immigration law. Read More
Filling Quotas or Setting Priorities? ICE Announcement to Increase Deportations Raises Concerns
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently announced that it would pull 150 agents from desk jobs and add them to Fugitive Operations Teams—teams created to locate and detain “fugitive immigrants” who pose a threat to the nation or the community or who have a violent criminal history—in order to find and deport additional “criminal aliens.” According to the LA Times, ICE reported it was "experiencing a shortfall in criminal removals for the fiscal year" and need to increase the numbers. While it’s a good idea for ICE to use limited resources pursuing serious criminals, the reality is that ICE’s definition of “criminal alien” is very broad and the Fugitive Ops Team end up deporting unauthorized immigrants who pose no threat to the community. Read More
Not Coming to America: Why the US is Falling Behind in the Global Race for Talent
“Not Coming to America: Why the US is Falling Behind in the Global Race for Talent” is a first-ever comparative study of the immigration reforms other countries employ to boost their economies and lure the high and low-skilled workers needed for continued economic growth. The report by the Partnership for… Read More
Silicon Valley Foreign Worker Search Speeds Up After Lull
Technology firms have tripled their recruitment of foreign workers this spring after a hiring lull of several years — a development that is reigniting the debate over immigration rules affecting those workers. American companies sought more than 32,500 temporary H-1B visas, available for skilled workers, since the annual recruiting period… Read More
Immigration helps City Labor Markets and Economies in U.S.
Standard & Poor’s the financial services company based in the U.S., released surprising information regarding immigration. The topic is on the forefront of many people’s minds as the election in November approaches. The notion that is widely held by many that immigration helps lower the credit rate of a city,… 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
