Microsoft Corp. founder and FWD.us co-founder Bill Gates said that Europe should increase foreign aid to countries instead of taking in more refugees. Gates, in an interview with the German newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, said that bringing in more migrants would motivate more to leave their home countries and flood Europe.
The number of Cubans trying to cross into the U.S. has dropped 99% since Pres. Obama ended the “wet foot, dry foot” policy on January 12. This policy allowed any Cuban who touched U.S. soil to become a legal permanent resident and citizen.
Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced today that Australia will stop the temporary 457 visa program that allows foreigners to live and work in the country for up to four years. The visa program has been criticized for allowing businesses to use the program to replace Australian workers with cheaper foreign labor.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled today that EU countries can deny humanitarian visas to individuals who intend to apply for asylum once they are in the country. The court warned that allowing third-country nationals to obtain entry visas to obtain international protection in the EU state of their choice “would undermine the general structure” of the bloc’s asylum system.
In an effort to deal with the rising number of migrants, Italy has released a plan that will help increase forced and voluntary repartition of migrants who have received deportation orders. Under pressure from their EU neighbors Italy stopped offering waivers to incoming migrants to cross into other countries, creating a bottleneck of migrants who are stuck in their country.
According to Catholic World News, Bishop Ruperto Santos of the Diocese of Balanga in the Philippines urged Filipinos who are currently in the United States illegally “not to wait to be branded undocumented and be deported” once enforcement efforts are stepped up under a Trump Administration.
Reuters -- Daniel Trotta
The United States and Cuba clashed over U.S. immigration policy on Wednesday at the first session of high-level talks seeking to restore diplomatic ties between the Cold War adversaries.
The Americans vowed to continue granting safe haven to Cubans with special protections denied to other nationalities while Cuba complained the United States encourages Cuban doctors to defect, calling it a "reprehensible brain drain practice."
Immigration officials have begun efforts in southern Mexico to prevent Central Americans from boarding north-bound trains. Officials are also raiding certain towns in the south and rounding up aliens, especially those with gang tattoos.
Canada's generous guest-worker program has often been held up by Big Business groups as a model for the United States to follow, but the Canadian government has announced plans to scale it back. The government is reducing the number of visas issued, the length of time that workers can stay in the country, and increasing the fees for businesses that wish to use the program. The changes have upset business groups in the country, but comes at the urging of the Canadian citizenry.
The Mexican government, increasingly plagued by illegal immigration from south of its border, is in the process of forming its own border patrol, Breitbart and a San Antonio radio station report. U.S. Rep Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) is helping the Mexican government in the hope that their border patrol with reduce the flow of OTMs – Other Than Mexicans – into the United States.
Swiss voters approved a ballot initiative on Sunday that limits the number of foreign citizens from European Union countries that are allowed to live and work in the country and gives preference to Swiss nationals for open jobs. Although not a member of the EU, Switzerland agreed to the free flow of labor with other EU nations in 2000.
Singapore’s massive use of guest workers, and the country’s related quick population growth, have become hot political issues. The government has taken minor action to reduce the number of guest workers used but the recent guest worker riot is likely to spur further debate.
The UK has announced plans to place restrictions on student visas, such as requiring students to know English and have sufficient financial support without needing a UK job
Mexico, which often criticizes the American government for putting up barriers which restrict the flow of illegal immigrants across the U.S. - Mexico border is building a fence of its own along its southern border with Guatemala.
Illegal alien visa overstayers in New Zealand are increasingly deciding to turn themselves in because they find life "unbearable"
A new study by Dutch social scientist Jan van de Beek shows that many Dutch are worried about the high costs of immigration, but are afraid to speak out.
Sec. of State Hillary Clinton appears to be putting out the perfect signal to try to prevent thousands of Haitians from risking their lives in leaky boats to enter the U.S. illegally. . . .
The Mexican Central Bank reported a 20% drop in April in money sent from Mexicans working in the United States. The 20% drop is compared to remittances from a year ago, and the bank reports that it's the largest single month drop since they began tracking the transfers.
Norway's Progress Party is gaining in the polls with people supporting the party's immigration reduction stance. The Party gained 5.8 percent in the polls now sitting less than four percentage points behind the front-running Labor Party. Parliamentary elections will be held in less than six months.
Responding to rising unemployment numbers, Australia will cut their immigration intake by 20,000 to 115,000 this fiscal year. Both building and manufacturing sectors have been removed from the nation's critical list, so employers in those fields will no longer be able to rely on foreign labor.
Federal authorities Wednesday arrested six people, including two with Pittsburgh ties, on charges that they operated a network of staffing services with more than 100 illegal workers from Eastern Europe.
The suspects hired workers from Russia, Ukraine, Estonia and Lithuania -- knowing their temporary visas had expired and assigned the workers to businesses in Pittsburgh, Monroeville and Ohio, prosecutors say. The defendants are accused of trying to hide the illegal workers' immigration status by providing housing, as well as transportation to and from work.
