S. 2225, the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2015, would exempt foreign workers who have received an H-2B guest-worker visa in any of the past three years from the current year's annual limits. This would potentially quadruple the number of H-2B visas issued each year from 65,000 to 260,000.
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has signed HB 318, which expands on the state's existing mandatory E-Verify law and forbids local jurisdictions from passing sanctuary policies. The state legislature took action on the bill after several high-profile crimes occurred in sanctuary cities over the summer.
Donald Trump stepped back from previous promises about protecting American workers and identified himself with both Marco Rubio and Mark Zuckerberg in extolling foreign tech workers. Marco Rubio overstated his protections for American workers with his efforts for H-1B expansion. Rick Santorum missed precision in some of his numbers but was in ballpark in focusing immigration policy on its relationship to labor force participation and stagnant wages. CNBC trotted out its own questionable anecdote to suggest that the country may have a labor shortage.
Yesterday, the Department of Transportation (DOT) hosted the last in a series of 11 forums meant to "facilitate conversation" and "inform [their] final Beyond Traffic report on key transportation trends and potential policy considerations." The video that accompanied the announcement (astonishingly) nails the critical factor for the future of our infrastructure in the first 10 seconds:
In his effort to become the next Speaker of the House, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) made two immigration promises to Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Rep. Ryan agreed not to move immigration legislation while Pres. Obama is still in office and to abide by the Hastert Rule on all immigration bills.
The Department of Homeland Security said it is complying with an order from Federal Judge Dolly M. Gee who ruled in July that ICE violated a decades old settlement by holding illegal-alien families and children in detention centers.
A 30-second TV ad run by NumbersUSA.com during multiple presidential debates and other occasions. The ad asks if it makes sense to continue to give lifetime work permits to one million new legal immigrants every year when millions of Americans are unable to find jobs.
H.R. 3818, the Ending Special National Origin-Based Immigration Programs for Cubans Act, would repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act that issues green cards to nationals from Cuba.
H.R. 3816, the HELD Act, would block certain federal funds to jurisdictions that fail to cooperate with federal immigration agents.
