Immigration news

A new study has found that US state legislatures passed fewer immigration laws this year; lawmakers' priorities focused on balancing budgets. In addition US courts debated how much authority state police have to enforce immigration laws compared to federal authorities. This has delayed some proposed immigration related legislation.The National Conference of State Legislatures study found that 41 states passed 114 bills and adopted 92 resolutions relating to immigrants and refugees in the first six months of this year, this was a decline of 20 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

A recent study found four in five New Zealand immigrants were either satisfied or very satisfied with their new lives in New Zealand.

Indian outsourcing giant, Infosys Technologies, is being investigated by federal authorities over visa fraud and is facing a second lawsuit over alleged abuse of the US work visa system.A former Infosys account manager filed a lawsuit on 2 August in Northern California's US District Court. Satya Dev Tripuraneni claims he was punished after raising concerns with federal authorities that Infosys may be misusing US visas.

A new asylum seeker detention facility in Western Australia is nearing capacity after only six weeks of being open. The new $125 million Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre, located about 90km northeast of Perth, was made to house about 600 single adult males. As of last week, the facility already houses 536 detainees.

A new study has found that skilled immigrant workers on Australian 457 visas are not taking away resources sector jobs from Australians. Researchers at Perth's Edith Cowan University School of Management say there have been claims that foreign workers are reducing opportunities for skilled locals, but findings in their study reveal this is not the case.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has issued a call for proposals for language training and other settlement and resettlement services to help newcomers transition into their new life in the country. Various groups can submit proposals including non-profit organizations, businesses, community groups, and educational or other public Institutions.As existing projects end in 2012, new submitted proposals will determine which projects will be funded for 2013. CIC notes that the projects can be local, regional, national and/or international in scope.