- 08/08/2011: Secretary Napolitano Announces Initiatives to Promote Startup Enterprises
- 05/27/11: Supreme Court upholds Arizona immigration employment law
- 04/29/11: Korea, CBP to Work Toward Mutual Trusted Traveler Recognition
- 04/01/11: House Subcommittee Hearing Highlights U.S. Need for Foreign Scientists and Engineers
- 03/30/11: USCIS to Start Accepting H-1B Petitions For Fiscal Year 2012
- 03/24/11: Foreign-Nationals to Fill Important Gaps for U.S. Doctors
- 03/11/11: Florida Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Immigration Fraud Scheme
- 02/28/2011: Study - U.S. Ranks Amongst Top Ten For Immigration Integration
- 02/14/11: Ernst & Riley Law Group Lauded for Virtual Law Firm
- 02/07/11: FTC Shuts Down Immigration Scam
Secretary Napolitano Announces Initiatives to Promote Startup Enterprises and Spur Job Creation
WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas today outlined a series of policy, operational, and outreach efforts to fuel the nation's economy and stimulate investment by attracting foreign entrepreneurial talent of exceptional ability or who otherwise can create jobs, form startup companies, and invest capital in areas of high unemployment.
USCIS has published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document on its website clarifying that entrepreneurs may obtain an employment-based second preference (EB-2) immigrant visa if they satisfy the existing requirements, and also may qualify for a National Interest Waiver under the EB-2 immigrant visa category.
A Supreme Court decision upholding an Arizona law penalizing businesses that hire illegal immigrants could spur other states to try similar measures aimed at stopping people from crossing the border illegally.
In their 5-3 decision Thursday, the justices made clear that states can play a role in what is generally a federal system of immigration regulation. The court upheld a 2007 Arizona law that revokes the business license of companies that hire unauthorized workers, saying it met an exception to the usual federal prohibition on states setting civil or criminal penalties in this area.
The court, however, offered no clear signal of how it might rule on a more controversial and closely watched Arizona anti-immigration law, signed in 2010 by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer and now facing a separate, higher-profile legal challenge.
Read the full article here.
April 29, 2011. Taking another stride to facilitate lawful international travel, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Korea Immigration Service last week signed a joint statement agreeing to work toward mutually recognized, expedited international travel initiatives, making Korea the first Asian country to commit to a trusted traveler arrangement.CBP Commissioner Alan D. Bersin welcomed Korea Immigration Service Commissioner Dong-hyeon Seok and a delegation from the Korean agency to CBP’s Washington, D.C., headquarters for the signing. “By declaring our joint intention to enter into a trusted traveler program that is mutually recognized,” said Bersin, “we not only extend courtesies to our respective peoples, but we signal a commitment to a shared approach to immigration and border security.”
(April 1, 2011). Yesterday a House Immigration Subcommittee hearing emphasized that the U.S. economy is currently heavily dependent on foreign scientists and engineers. The hearing, entitled "H-1B Visas: Designing a Program to Meet the Needs of the U.S. Economy and U.S. Workers" debated how the current H-1B program for highly skilled foreign professionals should be best structured in terms of wage protections and job portability. However, most politicians were in agreement that foreign-born scientists and engineers, including many who come to the United States on the H-1B visas make critical contributions to the U.S. economy.
To read the full USCIS notice please click here.
While the effects of the recession are certainly something that worry U.S. workers, some representatives such as Lamar Smith, Steve King, and Elton Gallegly are using the period of uncertainty to attempt to pass more restrictive immigration laws. However, with the aging population in the U.S., there is a dire need for well trained and educated doctors. Currently, the U.S. is not producing enough U.S. doctors and there is a real concern that without increased immigration for professional doctors, the U.S. could be facing a very dangerous shortage of doctors.
Florida Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Immigration Fraud Scheme
(Feb 6, 2011) A federal judge at the request of the Federal Trade Commission has shut down an immigration website service that posed as a U.S. government website and collected fees from duped consumers. The defendants, "Immigration Center and Immigration Forms and Publications, Inc. ran various websites with official sounding URLS and used deceptive telemarketing operation to convince users that they were affiliated with the U.S. government. According the FTC's complaint the operation also charged fees for the government forms that were the same amount as the government processing fees.
If you suspect that anyone you know has fallen victim to one of these scams, please contact the FTC at www.ftc.gov.
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