US Immigration News

Late last week the United States Senate announced it had reached an immigration reform "deal" with the White House. The Bush administration and the United States Congress have been locked in a highly volatile debate over reforming immigration laws in the U.S. for over a year.

In a compromise that was already generating heated criticism by the end of the day, the United States Senate reached a broad agreement on the shape of a new immigration reform bill today.

Two U.S. senators on Monday asked nine foreign-based companies to explain how they are using their United States H-1B work permits that they have obtained for their employees. Recent information about misuse of the program has created a heated debate in the U.S. Congress as it moves into the final stages of presenting immigration reform measures this month.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on 04 May 2007 that they have received enough petitions requesting exemptions to fill the quota of 20,000. The exemptions are for "foreign workers who have earned a master's degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education."

Normal H-1B petitions not subject to exemptions are capped at 65,000 per fiscal year.

Last week, a computer randomly chose 65,000 petitions for coveted United States H-1B visas. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had filtered through over 150,000 petitions that had been received online on Monday and Tuesday, 02 & 03 April of this year.

A group called the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps wants to patrol the border between Canada and the U.S. state of New Hampshire, in an effort to keep out illegal immigrants. The Minutemen are known for patrolling the U.S.-Mexican border and other parts of the immense Canadian border.

They want to start as soon as possible but need more members and contributions, according to organizers.