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A leading financial daily paper in the United States, the Wall Street Journal, called for an end to limits on the US' H-1B visas. As workpermit.com reported earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced that the annual H-1B cap of 65,000 already has been reached for next year (2006). The paper wrote in an editorial that rather than trying to guess the number of foreign workers the US economy needs each year, Congress would be better off removing the cap altogether and letting the market decide.

We would like to remind you that graduates of U.S. masters degree programs or above still qualify for some remaining H-1B numbers for both fiscal year 2005 and 2006.

As reported earlier, new Zealand is facing serious skills shortages. This week, immigration became the focus of heated political debate. New Zealand First says that the Labour and National Party's immigration policies have not ended skill shortages, and are keeping New Zealander's wages low. The First party says young people are leaving the country in search of higher wages, and unskilled workers immigrating to New Zealand are replacing them.

US immigration is facing a crisis. US borders are allowing thousands of Latino immigrants - and potentially terrorists - to enter the country illegally each day, but a tougher border crackdown would create a large problem for the country's labour resources, particularly in the country's farms. Among possible long term solutions is a programme to let illegal Hispanics work legally in the US.

Tragedy struck the immigrant community in France twice in the past week, as fires destroyed buildings and killed 24 African immigrants in Paris. Members of the African community took to the streets over the weekend, urging the authorities to provide better housing for immigrants. They were joined by activists and pressure groups who accused French leaders of neglect.

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