Support Habeas Corpus Amendment to Military Tribunal Legislation
Via AILA
09/27/2006
The
existing Senate bills on military tribunals would strip the rights of
certain non-citizens to challenge their detention in a court of law.
The Specter-Levin Amendment, which could come to the Floor later today,
would reinstate habeas corpus and preserve core democratic rights.
Temporary Skilled Workers Enrich America’ s Competitive Edge
Via AILA
09/27/2006
The
recent debate over immigration policy commonly depicts immigrants as
undocumented, uneducated people who flood our borders without
inspection. Although many immigrants who enter this country are
unskilled laborers who provide essential services in many sectors of
our economy, of equal importance to the immigration debate are the
highly educated foreign professionals whose skills play a vital role in
the enrichment of our economy. These foreign born workers bring unique
perspectives and expertise that are essential to maintaining America’s
competitive edge as the leader of the global marketplace.
The United States economy has shifted significantly over the past
fifty years. We are no longer the blue collar nation that we once were.
The transformation of our economy from a manufacturing economy to a
knowledge-based economy has created a growing demand for highly skilled
technical workers. This demand has been accompanied by a decline in the
number of native-born students seeking degrees in the fields of
science, engineering and technology. Our prestigious graduate
institutions currently train more foreign nationals than U.S. citizens
in these important fields. These U.S trained specialists, both native
and foreign-born, cannot fill the demand for highly-skilled workers in
key occupations. U.S. businesses must be able to recruit and hire
additional foreign-born professionals to alleviate temporary labor
shortages in specific occupations.
To keep America competitive, we must increase the number of
specialized worker visas awarded. H-1B visas, or temporary skilled
worker visas, are currently capped at only 65,000 annually. Yet in
recent years, this “cap” is reached in a couple of months and U.S.
businesses are barred from hiring foreign-born professionals for the
remainder of the fiscal year. In order to increase the number of highly
skilled professionals in this country, we must reform the employment
based immigration system and provide a sufficient amount of avenues
through which U.S. businesses can legally employ specialized workers.
At the same time, we must increase recruitment and training of U.S.
students as well – in order to accelerate this process, a hefty portion
of the processing fees for the H visas are directed to the education
and training of U.S. students in science and technology.
It is important that skilled workers are not overlooked in the
current debate regarding comprehensive immigration reform. Raising the
H-1B visa cap is vital to maintaining our leadership in the world
market. We must retain the educated professionals whom we have trained
internally in order to benefit from the unique skills that they
possess. By sending the best and the brightest workers back to their
respective countries, we only create competition for ourselves, thereby
diminishing America’s economic clout. By retaining foreign nationals,
we may ensure that U.S. businesses have the most highly qualified
workers in their fields, helping America maintain its edge in an
increasingly competitive global economy. the most highly qualified
workers in their fields, guaranteeing maximum success and economic
prosperity.
Comprehensive Immigration Reform is the Only Way to Fix a Broken System
Via AILA
09/27/2006
The
recent debate over immigration policy commonly depicts immigrants as
undocumented, uneducated people who flood our borders without
inspection. Although many immigrants who enter this country are
unskilled laborers who provide essential services in many sectors of
our economy, of equal importance to the immigration debate are the
highly educated foreign professionals whose skills play a vital role in
the enrichment of our economy. These foreign born workers bring unique
perspectives and expertise that are essential to maintaining America’s
competitive edge as the leader of the global marketplace.
The United States economy has shifted significantly over the past
fifty years. We are no longer the blue collar nation that we once were.
The transformation of our economy from a manufacturing economy to a
knowledge-based economy has created a growing demand for highly skilled
technical workers. This demand has been accompanied by a decline in the
number of native-born students seeking degrees in the fields of
science, engineering and technology. Our prestigious graduate
institutions currently train more foreign nationals than U.S. citizens
in these important fields. These U.S trained specialists, both native
and foreign-born, cannot fill the demand for highly-skilled workers in
key occupations. U.S. businesses must be able to recruit and hire
additional foreign-born professionals to alleviate temporary labor
shortages in specific occupations.
To keep America competitive, we must increase the number of
specialized worker visas awarded. H-1B visas, or temporary skilled
worker visas, are currently capped at only 65,000 annually. Yet in
recent years, this “cap” is reached in a couple of months and U.S.
businesses are barred from hiring foreign-born professionals for the
remainder of the fiscal year. In order to increase the number of highly
skilled professionals in this country, we must reform the employment
based immigration system and provide a sufficient amount of avenues
through which U.S. businesses can legally employ specialized workers.
At the same time, we must increase recruitment and training of U.S.
students as well – in order to accelerate this process, a hefty portion
of the processing fees for the H visas are directed to the education
and training of U.S. students in science and technology.
It is important that skilled workers are not overlooked in the
current debate regarding comprehensive immigration reform. Raising the
H-1B visa cap is vital to maintaining our leadership in the world
market. We must retain the educated professionals whom we have trained
internally in order to benefit from the unique skills that they
possess. By sending the best and the brightest workers back to their
respective countries, we only create competition for ourselves, thereby
diminishing America’s economic clout. By retaining foreign nationals,
we may ensure that U.S. businesses have the most highly qualified
workers in their fields, helping America maintain its edge in an
increasingly competitive global economy. the most highly qualified
workers in their fields, guaranteeing maximum success and economic
prosperity.
Dealing with a dearth of H-1B visa slots
Via The Star-Telegram
By MARK G. HEESEN and STUART ANDERSON
Special to the Star-Telegram
A focus on illegal immigration has overshadowed the need to reform
America’s system for skilled immigrants. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas,
will oversee a field hearing Thursday at the University of Texas at
Dallas that may start to correct this problem.
Because Congress has failed to allocate enough H-1B visas, U.S.
employers often must wait more than a year to hire a skilled foreign
national. In nine of the past 11 years, employers used up the entire
H-1B quota before the fiscal year ended; in the past three years,
employers exhausted the quota before the fiscal year started.
H-1B visas are essential — there is no other way to hire an
outstanding international student off a U.S. campus, or a
researcher/professional from abroad. The wait is five years or more in
the skilled green-card categories (for permanent residence) because
Congress also has failed to raise those quotas.
Companies employ many outstanding Americans, but to compete
globally, U.S. firms also must hire top talent without regard to place
of birth. Current visa limits have caused U.S. companies to hire and
place more personnel outside the U.S.
Ill-conceived immigration policies may discourage students from
coming to America to start a career. In fact, first-time science and
engineering graduate enrollment for international students declined for
the third year in a row in 2004, according to the National Science
Foundation.
In 2005, U.S. universities awarded 55 percent of master’s degrees
and 67 percent of Ph.D.s in electrical engineering to foreign
nationals. Simply put, when U.S. companies recruit off college
campuses, they find many of the potential new hires to be foreign
nationals.
Under the law, U.S. employers must pay foreign nationals hired on
H-1B visas as much as similar American professionals. Moreover,
companies typically pay $6,000 in various legal and government fees,
which have funded more than 40,000 scholarships for U.S. college
students in science and engineering, according to research by the
National Foundation for American Policy.
Cornyn’s bill (S 2691), which was included as part of the Senate’s
broader immigration bill passed in May, would largely solve the key
problems facing skilled immigrants and innovative American employers.
It would raise the annual cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000,
provide for market-based increases in future years and add broader
exemptions for those with advanced degrees. In addition, recognizing
that it makes no sense to train and educate people and then ask them to
leave the country, the bill makes it easier for international students
to transition to work and provide an increase in green cards so that
highly skilled individuals could stay, innovate and prosper in America.
Group: Fix The Broken Green Card System
Via NewsMax.com
WASHINGTON — With comprehensive immigration reform focused on the
millions of illegal aliens in the country, one energetic advocacy group
is hustling to educate lawmakers and the public about the million-plus
legal immigrants that have no need of amnesty but only a fair shake at
grabbing the American Dream.
Reform bills, amendments, and proposals may be languishing in the
brimming too-hard-to-do bin on Capitol Hill until after the 2006
elections, but Aman Kapoor, the founder and head of Immigration Voice
roams the halls of Congress, colleagues in trace, with a call for help
– fixing a green card system that is broken.
In the current global arena, countries such as India and China provide
strong competition in the manufacturing and outsourcing services. The
United States has to retain and attract the best and brightest talent
that it can find to keep its competitive edge in research and
development of innovative technologies, Kapoor told NewsMax in his
staccato Indian accent.
“Countries in Europe such as U.K. and Germany, in North America such as
Canada, and in the Southern hemisphere, such as Australia, have long
since realized this fact and have tailored their immigration policies
to attract the brightest students and made it easier for them to stay
in those countries,” Kapoor explained.
This, however, is unfortunately not the case in the United States, he lamented.
Immigration Protests May Not Spur Votes
LOS ANGELES — Immigration protests that drew hundreds of thousands of flag-waving demonstrators to the nation’s streets last spring promised a potent political legacy – a surge of new Hispanic voters.
“Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote,” they proclaimed.
But an Associated Press review of voter registration figures from Chicago, Denver, Houston, Atlanta and other major urban areas that had large rallies found no sign of a new voter boom that could sway elections. There was a rise in Los Angeles, where 500,000 protested in March, but it was more of a trickle than a torrent.
Protest organizers _ principally unions, Hispanic advocacy groups and the Catholic Church _ acknowledge that it has been hard to translate street activism into voting clout, though they insist they can reach their goal of 1 million new voters by 2008.
First PERM BALCA Decision – Re: Harmless Error on Application
Via ILW.com
This article discusses the first PERM BALCA decision, In the Matter of HealthAmerica, No. 2006-PER-00001 (BALCA, Jul. 18, 2006).
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American
Council on International Personnel (ACIP) jointly filed an amicus brief
on this case.
American dream sours for an exile
Via MiamiHerald.com
08/28/2006
For 12 years, Julio Rosell has lived, worked and paid taxes from his
roomy, idyllic Hollywood home — his lawn freshly mowed; his two cars
polished; his boat luxurious.
He fathered two American-born children: 10-year-old Jeannette and 9-year-old Julio Jr.
As a Cuban exile, he expected his American dream to continue.
But now Rosell finds himself in a situation unfamiliar to most Cuban exiles. His immigration status is in limbo.
The 41-year-old Havana native lost his bid for a green card because
he came to the United States as a stowaway. While he won’t likely be
deported, he cannot legally drive or work now.
”No one seems to care,” said his wife, Caroline Rosell, whose own
status depends on her husband’s. “My husband has no driver’s license,
mine’s about to expire and we are supposed to be supporting two kids
financially. I wonder how they really expect us to live — without
papers or a driver’s license.”
In the decade he adjusted to the American way of life, no one told Rosell he shouldn’t be here.
Deported Man Was Actually U.S. Citizen
Via Forbes.com
Duarnis Perez became an American citizen when
he was 15, but he didn’t find out until after he had been deported and
then jailed for trying to get back into the country.
He was facing his second deportation hearing
when he learned he was already a U.S. citizen. Still, federal
prosecutors fought to keep him in custody.
Last week, a federal judge scolded prosecutors for the mistake.
“In effect, the government is arguing that an
innocent man who was wrongly convicted should not be released from the
custody of the United States,” U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn wrote.
He ruled that Perez never should have been deported.
The case has gotten the attention of
immigration observers, who call it a striking example of the gaps in an
overworked immigration system.
Perez became a citizen when his mother was
naturalized in 1988 but apparently wasn’t aware of it. His lawyer, J.
Jeffrey Weisenfeld of New York, declined to release details other than
to say that Perez, now in his early 30s, remains in the United States.
Hired hands: Wait for green card tries visa holders
Via The Sacremento Bee
08/08/2006
Obtaining permanent residence frustrates foreign professionals.
Raghu Ballal, a
civil engineer
for the Shaw
Group, plans to
get his MBA in
the United
Kingdom after
being frustrated
at the
wait for a green
card in the U.S.
He will apply
for fast-track
residency
through the
U.K.’s Highly
Skilled Migrant
Program.
Sacramento Bee/Autumn Cruz
The Indian-born engineer regrets leaving a well-paying job with the
subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company — and giving up opportunities to
pursue a master’s degree in business administration at the University
of California at Berkeley or Los Angeles.
The long wait Ballal and his wife face for legal permanent residency —
for green cards — has pushed them to pursue the American dream in
another country.
Eager to make it in America
Via Mercury News
08/08/2006
A common perception is that illegal immigrants are uneducated laborers with few opportunities at home. This family smashes that stereotype.
For many immigrants, few things represent the American dream like a
home of their own. So it was a proud day for a Thai immigrant and her
three adult children when they pooled their resources to buy a
five-bedroom, two-story home in Sacramento last August.
But their success story is in jeopardy. Two of her children —
college graduates who gave up promising careers in their homeland —
are illegal immigrants at risk of deportation.
The family’s story illustrates an often overlooked reality about
immigration. A common perception is that illegal immigrants are
uneducated laborers with few opportunities at home who gratefully take
menial jobs in America. Yet, a quarter of undocumented immigrants have
at least some college education, with 15 percent holding a bachelor’s
degree or better, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.
Their story also debunks another common assumption about
undocumented immigrants: The Thai family didn’t cross the border
illegally, but entered the country with valid visas, like almost half
of the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United
States. A full 90 percent of illegal immigrants who are not from Mexico
or Central America are visitors who have overstayed their visas,
according to another Pew report.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
Rethinking the Effects of Immigration on Wages
Via AILA
10/03/2006
A crucial question in the current debate over immigration is what
impact immigrants have on the wages of native-born workers. At first
glance, it might seem that the simple economics of supply and demand
provides the answer: immigrants increase the supply of labor; hence
they should decrease the wages of native workers. However, the reality
is more complicated than this.
The latest study published by the Immigration Policy Center
addresses this issue. The study, authored by Giovanni Peri, Associate
Professor of Economics at the University of California, Davis, and a
Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, is entitled <!–
D(["mb",""Rethinking the Effects of Immigration on Wages: New Data and Analysis from 1990 2004." In the study, Professor Peri argues that the widespread notion that immigrants decrease native wages is a misconception, complicated by two reasons that too often are overlooked. First, immigrants and natives, with different skills and education levels, do not compete with each other for the same jobs, but actually complement each other performing interdependent jobs, thereby increasing the wages and productivity of natives. Second, evidence shows that new workers added to the labor force stimulate investment by entrepreneurs. When these two factors are included in the analysis of immigration and wages, it becomes clear that immigration has a positive effect on the wages of most native-born workers.
\n \n\n
For a detailed analysis of Professor Peri\’s findings, read the full report here. \n\n
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Take Action
\n\n
Hold Members of Congress Accountable at Town Hall Meetings
\n\nIncumbent Candidates are back in their home districts making the most of the pre-election season. Many are hosting Town Hall meetings. This is a good way for them to get out and talk to their constituents and "take the pulse" of the communities they represent in Congress. It is also a great opportunity for AILA members to educate and inform Senators, Representatives, and other meeting attendees about the need for comprehensive immigration reform, H-1B relief, and other key AILA concerns. Consider attending a Town Hall meeting with your AILA colleagues to show collective support for your shared ideals. Generating a large and well-informed crowd at a public meeting is an extremely effective way to elicit the views of your Member of Congress and to share your perspective. Use AILA\’s “,1]
);
//–>“Rethinking the Effects of Immigration on Wages: New Data and Analysis from 1990 2004.”
In the study, Professor Peri argues that the widespread notion that
immigrants decrease native wages is a misconception, complicated by two
reasons that too often are overlooked. First, immigrants and natives,
with different skills and education levels, do not compete with each
other for the same jobs, but actually complement each other performing
interdependent jobs, thereby increasing the wages and productivity of
natives. Second, evidence shows that new workers added to the labor
force stimulate investment by entrepreneurs. When these two factors are
included in the analysis of immigration and wages, it becomes clear
that immigration has a positive effect on the wages of most native-born
workers.
For a detailed analysis of Professor Peri’s findings, read the full report here.