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President Obama has attempted to keep up pressure on Congressional opponents of immigration reform by making the economic case for reform. The President told the country that the immigration reform bill passed by the Senate in June would add $1.4trillion to the US economy in the next 20 years.
After a meeting of Republican Congressmen and women on Wednesday 10th July 2013, the prospects for the comprehensive immigration reform bill initially passed by the Senate last month look poor. To become law, the bill must also be passed by the Republican controlled House of Representatives (The House). At a meeting on Wednesday 10th July, many House Republicans spoke out against it.
Right wing Conservative MP Liam Fox has called for radical reform of the UK's immigration system in favour of skilled workers at the expense of family members of UK citizens.
Dr Fox, who was forced to resign as the Minister of Defence in 2011 after allegations of impropriety, has spent the last two years writing a book about his political vision. His proposals relating to immigration are perhaps lacking in detail.
Mark Harper, the UK Immigration Minister, has said that it is 'a misconception' that Chinese visitors to the UK 'have a hard time getting a UK visa and it's time to stop knocking the system'.
The UK's Home Office has released research which shows that 50% of the population of England and Wales (but not Scotland) lives in 'areas of relatively high migration'. A further 30% lives in areas of 'moderate migration' and only 20% lives in areas with 'low migration levels'. The report was commissioned by the Home Office to try to discover what the impacts of immigration have been in England and Wales. It was published on 3rd July 2013.
The UK's Home Office has been criticised for a tweet that was posted on a social networking website. The Home Office Twitter feed featured a tweet which promised that 'there will be no hiding place for illegal immigrants'.
The tweet was posted on 3rd July 2013 along with pictures of immigration enforcement officers placing several men of Asian appearance in a Home Office van. An attached video clip showed Immigration Minister Mark Harper talking about proposed changes to immigration law while standing at the scene of an immigration raid. Two people were arrested during the raid.