Visas
High-Skilled Immigration Boosts Native-Born Wages in Cities
Despite the soaring demand there are only 85,000 H-1B visas available each year for high-skilled workers. And as a new report explains, these foreign workers who often work in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields are helping to boost the wages of native born workers without taking… Read More
Changes Could Help Spouses of H-1B Visa Holders Work in U.S.
The spouses of some H-1B visa holders could receive work authorization in the U.S., according to a proposed rule change the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday. This change, as well as a proposal that would remove obstacles to staying in the U.S. for specific high-skilled workers,… Read More
Growing Number of Localities Limit Detention of Immigrants
At least 14 counties in Oregon have stopped honoring detainer requests from federal immigration officials. Their decisions followed a federal court ruling that officials in Clackamas County “violated one woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by holding her for immigration authorities without probable cause,” according to the Oregonian. Maria… Read More
H-1B Visa Cap for Higher Skilled Workers Maxed Out in Record Time
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Monday that the allotment of H-1B visas for the 2015 fiscal year, known as the H-1B visa cap, has been filled—a week after filing began. The principal temporary visa for skilled professionals, the H-1B allows U.S. Read More
Broken H-1B Visa Program is Costing American Jobs
Compete America, an association of high-tech companies advocating for reform of immigration policies affecting higher-skilled workers, launched a job loss calculator today estimating the numbers of American jobs lost due to the lack of H-1B visas, the primary work visa for higher-skilled… Read More
More Than 600 Businesses Urge Congress to Act on Immigration Reform
Immigrants are helping to grow the economy all across the nation. Take Charlotte, North Carolina for example, where immigrant restaurant owners have opened businesses across the city catering to increasingly eclectic tastes. Tacos El Nevado is one example. Heriberto Mali and Vianey Juarez, immigrants from the state… Read More
Michigan to Immigrants: You’re Welcome Here
It is clear that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder understands that immigration can be a potent boost to his state’s economy. It’s also an important component of economic revitalization for a city such as Detroit. Improving the nation’s broken immigration system could have enormous economic benefits for Michigan and states across the country, so Snyder joined former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, in Washington Friday to continue urging lawmakers to overhaul the U.S. immigration system. As Gutierrez explained, “Our laws aren’t serving our economy.” And Bloomberg noted that it is terrible economic policy to turn away foreign born entrepreneurs and innovators while also making it difficult for foreign-born graduates to remain in the country after earning degrees from our colleges and universities. State leaders recognize this as well, but they also know upgrading immigration laws requires congressional action. “We need comprehensive immigration reform. Bottom line,” Snyder said Friday. “To be blunt, we have a dumb system.” Read More
New Year, New Leadership and New Opportunities at DHS
The Department of Homeland Security enters 2014 with new leadership, following the confirmation this month of Jeh Johnson and Alejandro Mayorkas for Secretary and Deputy Secretary, respectively. Johnson and Mayorkas bring years of government service to their new jobs. Mayorkas’ tenure as Director of USCIS led to a far more open agency that treated the public as a partner, with innovations such as public comment on policy memos, expanded public engagement opportunities, the entrepreneur-in-residence program, and the delivery of a working program to process DACA applications within two months of the president’s announcement of the program. These successes, coupled with Johnson’s experience as the top Pentagon lawyer, promise a new direction for DHS. Read More
New ICE Deportation Statistics Are No Cause for Celebration
There is little to cheer in the new deportation statistics released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While the numbers document a 10 percent decline in the total number of deportations compared to last year, they also reveal the extent to which immigration enforcement resources are still devoted to apprehending, detaining, and deporting individuals who represent no conceivable threat to public safety or national security. In fact, the overwhelming majority of people deported by ICE either have no prior criminal record or were convicted of misdemeanors. While ICE does indeed capture and remove potentially dangerous individuals, most of its resources remain devoted to the enforcement of a broken and unworkable immigration system. The latest decline in removals notwithstanding, the U.S. deportation machine remains severely out of balance and lacking in either flexibility or meaningful opportunities for due process. Read More
Senate Confirms New DHS Director, Jeh Johnson
The Senate approved Jeh Johnson as the Department of Homeland Security Secretary 78 to 16 on Monday night. President Obama nominated Johnson to head the department in October following former Sec. Janet Napolitano’s resignation. At one point, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he would hold up Johnson’s nomination until he… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
