Global Immigration Counsel : Immigration Lawyer & Attorney : Littler Mendelson Law Firm : Permanent Residence, Labor Certification : Global Immigration Counsel

On February 14, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) re-introduced the “Strengthening Our Commitment to Legal Immigration and America’s Security Act” (S. 332). Senator Hatch first introduced this bill on September 29, 2010, but it died in committee. The current bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. As outlined in our report of the bill’s initial introduction, Senator Hatch’s bill includes a long list of immigration enforcement provisions, such as requiring the IRS to notify Social Security number holders if the agency suspects fraudulent use of their number for employment verification purposes.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) have introduced the StartUp Visa Act of 2010 (S. 3029), which would create a new visa category (EB-6) for foreign entrepreneurs. Foreign entrepreneurs would qualify for a two-year visa upon demonstrating that a qualified U.S. investor will dedicate at least $250,000 to his or her startup venture. Moreover, permanent resident status would be available to EB-6 visa holders after two years upon demonstration that the startup has:

• created five full-time jobs in the United States (excluding employment of the entrepreneur’s spouse or children); and
• secured $1 million in additional investment capital; or
• generated $1 million in revenue.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

On December 9, 2009, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano confirmed her stance that immigration enforcement is a necessity and must be achieved in conjunction with comprehensive reform of the United States’ broken immigration system. Secretary Napolitano stated, "We can no longer perpetuate a status quo that is unacceptable for workers, employers, law enforcement, faith leaders, and America as a whole. We must seize this moment to build a truly effective immigration system that deters illegal immigration, provides effective and enduring enforcement tools, protects workers from exploitation and retaliation, and creates a tough but fair path to legalization for the millions of illegal immigrants already here."

This statement, made at a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, reiterates the position of the Obama Administration and its intent to present a proposal for comprehensive immigration reform to Congress in early 2010.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas as director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services was recommended by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the matter now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

Mayorkas served as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California for 12 years. He has proposed an overall review of the agency, improving the department’s fraud prevention and detection operations, increasing interdepartmental cooperation, and improving E-Verify’s efficiency.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, has strongly criticized the E-Verify system and proposes replacing it with a biometric-based federal employment verification system. As reported by Workforce Management, Schumer has called E-Verify “unfair” because it singles out individuals with Hispanic surnames and “ineffective” because unauthorized workers can slip through the system by using stolen Social Security numbers and fake IDs.

However, it is far from certain that Schumer’s plan to scrap E-Verify will succeed. The House recently approved a homeland security appropriations bill that includes a two-year reauthorization of E-Verify, and it also has approved redirecting $50 million of the DHS budget to the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services for E-Verify enhancements.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, speaking at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, stated that ensuring jobs for U.S. workers is one of her "top obligations," and that the DHS is increasing its enforcement of the H-1B visa program. As reported by Computerworld, Napolitano cited new fraud prevention tactics—including visits to work sites—implemented over the past month as an example of measures being taken to prevent abuses of the H-1B program. A 2008 study (PDF) by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, found that as many as one in five H-1B applications were affected by either fraud or "technical violations" of the program.

Napolitano’s comments were in response to a question from Sen. Richard Durbin (D.-Ill.) raising concerns about H-1B visa holders displacing American workers. Durbin is co-sponsor of the H-1B Visa Fraud and Abuse Protections Act (S. 887) (see our previous post), which includes several enforcement provisions such as audits of employers. Napolitano stated that "our top obligations are to American workers, making sure American workers have jobs."
 

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link