Whitehouse Press Release: Statement by the President on Commonsense Immigration Reform
President Barack Obama speaks about government contracting reform. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
VIA THE WHITE HOUSE
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
April 16, 2013
This afternoon, Senators Schumer and McCain briefed me on the bipartisan immigration reform bill that they have drafted with their colleagues in the Senate. This bill is clearly a compromise, and no one will get everything they wanted, including me. But it is largely consistent with the principles that I have repeatedly laid out for comprehensive reform. This bill would continue to strengthen security at our borders and hold employers more accountable if they knowingly hire undocumented workers. It would provide a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are already in this country illegally. And it would modernize our legal immigration system so that we’re able to reunite families and attract the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers who will help create good paying jobs and grow our economy. These are all commonsense steps that the majority of Americans support. I urge the Senate to quickly move this bill forward and, as I told Senators Schumer and McCain, I stand willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that comprehensive immigration reform becomes a reality as soon as possible.
USCIS Releases Latest Data on (DACA) Cases Received Through 12/13/2012 – 70% of Total Cases Cite Mexico as Country of Origin
DREAMer Information Summit (Photo credit: Neighborhood Centers)
USCIS’ Latest Data on DACA Cases indicates that as of December 13, 2012, USCIS has accepted a total of 355,889 DACA cases, of which 102,965 have been approved, and 157,151 are pending. Just over 70% of all cases received by USCIS cite Mexico as the applicants’ country of origin. The top State of applicants’ residence is California.
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200K DACA applications filed so far
English: Official portrait of United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano Español: Retrato oficial de Secretaria de Seguridad Interna de los Estados Unidos Janet Napolitano (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Per The Hill: DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano indicates that more than 3,000 have applied for DACA every day, about 200,000 applications overall.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
The White House Now Apparently Focusing on the Dream Act, H-1B, L-1 and other Skilled/Professional Work Visas
Newley Purnell of the The Wall Street Journal blogged today about the White House’s Plans for H-1B and other Skilled/Professional Work Visas. The changes are likely to include “Tighter restrictions on skilled worker visas” which could be issued via “both executive action by President Donald Trump and via Congressional moves“. The article notes that “President Trump could use an executive directive to take steps like ending a provision announced in 2014 that allows spouses of H-1B visa holders [H-4 Spouses] to work in the U.S.” As well, any such changes would be included in a more comprehensive immigration reform effort.
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