Although H1B visas get most of the press, thousands of foreign workers come to the United States each year on two lesser-known programs, the H2A temporary agricultural worker visa and the H2B temporary worker program. Each year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) publishes a...
The Immigration Policy Center, a non-partisan Washington think tank, released statistical summaries that show the political and economic impact of immigrants in each state. (See New Americans in the Old Line State, Immigration Policy Center, Dec 17, 2009.) Here are a few key facts from...
The New York Times has reported that the Army has suspended a program to recruit skilled immigrants to serve in the armed forces, as doctors, dentists, interpreters, and in other high-demand positions. (Thriving Military Recruitment Program Blocked, by Julia Preston, New York Times, 22.Jan.2010) According...
Regular readers of MurthyDotCom will recall that travelers from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries now must obtain advance approval through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before traveling to the United States. (ESTA Requirements for VWP Travelers Effective since Jan 12, 2009, MurthyDotCom, 23.Jan.2009)...
On New Year's Eve, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John G. Roberts, Jr., issued his 2009 Year-End Report (PDF 98.7KB) on the Federal Judiciary, in keeping with a tradition begun by then-Chief Justice Warren Burger, in 1970. Justice Roberts pronounced his judgment that,...
Less than a week into the new year, the New York Times editorial page called for enactment of comprehensive immigration reform in 2010. (See: Immigration's New Year, Editorial, New York Times, January 6, 2010.) Two recent developments augur well for an immigration overhaul in the...
Comprehensive immigration reform would add $1.5 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product over the next ten years, if enacted, according to a study released recently. It also would increase wages both for native-born and newly-legalized immigrant workers, according to the study by UCLA professor Raúl...
The history of slavery and its aftermath in America is one of violence, ranging from physical brutality to the more subtle institutionalized and legalized violence that kept black Americans locked out of full and equal citizenship. One thinks of the bloody lynchings that Billie Holiday...
Last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services held several citizenship ceremonies around the country, in honor of Martin Luther King, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. (See: Immigration Reform Advocates See Inspiration in Work of MLK, Honored at Naturalization Events). The LA...
A major Indian newspaper, the Bangalore-based Deccan Herald, recently featured a profile of immigration lawyer and philanthropist, Sheela Murthy, who was in India last month on business. See: Mingling Cultures, Crisscrossing Lives, by Sharada Prahladrao, Deccan Herald, Jan 16, 2010.) The profile lauded Murthy as...
