[March 15, 2008]

GATES URGES MORE TECH WORKER VISAS

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates asked Congress to make it easier for techo companies to hire foreign workers - even though some members of Congress want to make it harder.  Gates testified before the House Committee on Science and Technology and said that the USA faces ¡°a critical shortfall of skilled scientists and engineers.¡±  Improvements in education would help, but more visas for skilled workers are desperately needed, he said.

Gates wants Congress to raise the number of the most common type of skilled worker visa, called an H-1B.  So do many other big tech companies, including Google, Intel and Hewlett-Packard.

Critics such as Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., want to make H-1Bs harder to obtain.  They say visa holders take American jobs and reduce wages by working for less than their U.S. counterparts.  Rohrabacher replied that Gates is ¡°totally insensitive and unsympathetic to average working people who are displaced by foreign workers.¡±

 Insufficient visas mean that ¡°many U.S. firms, including Microsoft, have been forced to locate staff in countries that welcome skilled foreign workers¡± to stay competitive, Gates said.

Congress allocates about 65,000 standard H-1B visas each fiscal year. Exemptions and related visas often raise the number of skilled worker permits to nearly 130,000, says Ron Hira, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and author of Outsourcing America.

But demand still far outstrips supply.  In fiscal 2007, which began October 1, 2006, the main type of H-1B visa was used up by early April.  Many of the companies who hire H-1B visa holders are from India, although they have large U.S. operations.  Huge outsourcing firms such as Wipro and Infosys are among the biggest H-1B users.  The average H-1B worker has a bachelor¡¯s degree, was born in India and makes $55,000 a year, says the most recent data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. 

MORE ON ADOPTIONS

ROLLOUT OF NEW FORMS AND CENTRALIZED REVIEW UNDER

HAGUE ADOPTION CONVENTION

            Children, birth parents and prospective adoptive parent(s) will have greater protections under the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention), effective April 1, 2008.  New safeguards administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) include the creation of new forms and improved centralized examination processes for intercountry adoption applications and petitions in compliance with the Hague Adoption Convention.

            The Hague Adoption Convention is an international treaty between Convention member countries.  The agreement provides a framework of rules and procedures for the countries to work jointly to ensure certain intercountry adoption protections.  These include providing adoptees with permanent and loving homes and looking after children¡¯s best interests throughout the adoption process, thus preventing the abduction, sale or illegal traffic of children.

PROPERTY OWNERS SUE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY OVER BORDER FENCE CONSTRUCTION

            Two Texas property owners brought suit against DHS for failure to comply with federal laws regarding the construction of a border fence between the U.S. and Mexico.  DHS has demanded that the plaintiffs execute a waiver of their property rights for six months.  Both plaintiffs have refused to sign the waiver, and the government has sued the lead plaintiffs.  Plaintiffs allege that IIRIRA prohibits DHS from using an expedited condemnation proceeding, that DHS is failing to comply with standard condemnation proceeding, and that DHS has violated federal law by failing to consult with property owners and other stakeholders to minimize the impact of the fence.

DAMAGES SUIT ALLEGES SEXUAL AND PHYSICAL

ABUSE OF MINORS IN DETENTION

             Nine plaintiffs recently brought suit against the U.S. government, DHS officials, a private detention facility (Away from Home, Inc.), and detention facility employees.  Plaintiffs allege sexual, physical and emotional abuse during a period of detention at the Away from Home facility.  At the time that the events occurred, the plaintiffs all were younger than eighteen.  Plaintiffs allege several claims based on the abuse and violations of the Flores settlement agreement, a 1997 settlement regarding treatment of unaccompanied minors.  In addition, plaintiffs¡¯ complaint includes claims of negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and assault and battery. Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief and damages.

BIOMETRIC CHANGES FOR RE-ENTRY PERMITS

AND REFUGEE TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

            U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued revised instructions for USCIS Form I-131, Application for Travel Document.  The instructions include changes, which became effective March 5, 2008, that require applicants for re-entry permits and refugee travel documents to provide biometrics (e.g., fingerprints and photographs) at a USCIS

Application Support Centers (ASC) for background and security checks and requirements for secure travel and entry documents containing biometric identifiers.   As indicated in the instructions, when the biometrics requirement becomes effective, USCIS will notify applicants of their appointment at the designated ASC after submission of the I-131 application.

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