As in flushed away. Harvard Professor Vivek Wadwa has released a very interesting report in which he interviewed 1200 skilled and professional workers who left the United States to return to their home countries. And what emerges is a picture of talent workers who came to the US for education and training who then are finding better opportunities in their home countries. More than half of those returning home are planning on starting businesses. Why should we care? From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
Research from an earlier Kauffman Foundation study showed that immigrants historically have provided one of America’s greatest competitive advantages. Between 1990 and 2007, the proportion of immigrants in the U.S. labor force increased from 9.3 percent to 15.7 percent, and a large and growing proportion of immigrants bring high levels of education and skill to the United States. Immigrants have contributed disproportionately in the most dynamic part of the U.S. economy — the high-tech sector — and immigrant inventors contributed to more than 25 percent of U.S. global patent applications. Immigrant-founded companies based in the United States employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in revenue in 2006.
“While some have tried to associate the increase in foreign workers over recent years with the economic problems that have plagued the country, this data verifies the opposite effect,” Wadhwa said in the release. “If the U.S. government and the business community could find better ways to offer good jobs in tandem with less restrictive visa policies for talented immigrants, the U.S. might be able to recapture many of these immigrants and their potential to help grow the U.S. economy.”
Those who push policies of trying to drive skilled and professional workers out of the country are helping worsen both our short term economic picture and the long term prospects for the US remaining the world's top economy. American jobs are NOT protected by protectionism.
You can download the report here.
February 28, 2009
Congressman Adam Putnam (R-FL) has introduced a bill that would implement #8 of The Ten Ideas I had for using immigration to stimulate the US economy. I don't claim credit for the concept (the bill has actually been introduced in the past) and I happily endorse the plan as something that could provide a real boost to attract foreign capital to the country and help create an enormous number of jobs for American citizens.
The bill's relatively simple. It would create a new EB-5 category for E-2 investors who have been in the country for at least five years in E-2 status, have invested at least $200,000 and creates full time jobs.
Here's the text of the proposal. Contact your member of Congress and let him or her know you support this proposal that will help create jobs for American workers.
E-2 Nonimmigrant Investor Adjustment Act of 2009 (Introduced in House)
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1162
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit certain E-2 nonimmigrant investors to adjust status to lawful permanent resident status.
Mr. PUTNAM (for himself and Mrs. MYRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit certain E-2 nonimmigrant investors to adjust status to lawful permanent resident status.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the E-2 Nonimmigrant Investor Adjustment Act of 2009'.
(a) In General- Section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting except as provided in subparagraph (E)(i)(II),' after `(ii)';
(2) in subparagraph (C)(i), by inserting and subparagraph (E)(i)(I)' after Except as provided in this subparagraph'; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
(E) SPECIAL RULES FOR CERTAIN E-2 NONIMMIGRANT INVESTORS-
(i) IN GENERAL- In the case of an alien who has been present in the United States in the status of an alien described in section 101(a)(15)(E)(ii) for at least five years--
(I) the amount of capital required under subparagraph (A) shall be $200,000; and
(II) the alien is deemed as satisfying the requirement of subparagraph (A)(ii) if the enterprise has created full-time employment for not fewer than two individuals (or five individuals for each year after the third year in such status) described in such subparagraph (A)(ii).
(ii) LIMITATION- Not more than 3,000 visas may be made available under this paragraph to principal aliens described in clause (i) in any fiscal year.'.
(b) Effective Date- The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. Periods of presence in the United States in the status of an alien described in section 101(a)(15)(E)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(E)(ii)) before such date shall be counted towards satisfying the time requirement specified in subparagraph (E) of section 203(b)(5) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)) (as added by paragraph (3) of subsection (a)).
(c) Immediate Eligibility of Adjustment of Status of Certain Long-Term E-2 Nonimmigrant Investors- An alien who has been present in the United States as an E-2 nonimmigrant investor for at least five years may be immediately eligible to adjust status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to the amendment made by subsection (a).
CONSULAR OFFICER CONVICTED OF EXCHANGING VISAS FOR STRIPPERS AND JEWELRY
Well, I guess this is a new form of "premium processing." Mike O'Keefe, the deputy noninmmigrant visa chief at the US consulate in Toronto has pleaded guilty to accepting jewelry and trips with exotic dancers in exchange for expediting work visas for STS Jewels, a New York company headed by Sunil Agrawal. Agrawal pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegal supplementation of salary which Agrawal's lawyer is hoping won't jeopardize his immigration status to the US (good luck). He faces a potential one year jail term and a fine of up to $100,000. O'Keefe faces up to two years a and a $250,000 fine.
February 26, 2009
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted a raid Tuesday on Yamato Engine Specialists, a manufacturing company in Bellingham, Washington. This is the first work site raid since President Obama was sworn in and appears to have been conducted without the knowledge or approval of either the President or his new Secretary of Homeland Security who have both expressed their concerns with the use of raids as opposed to other kinds of enforcement measures. The NY Times reports:
A high-level official in the Department of Homeland Security said that Ms. Napolitano had not been informed about the raid on Tuesday before it happened, and that she was seeking details about its planning and scope.
“She was not happy about it because it’s inconsistent with her position, and the president’s position on these matters,” said the official, who agreed to discuss the matter on condition of anonymity because the secretary had not authorized the conversation.
President Obama has promised immigration enforcement that would focus less on illegal workers and more on the employers who rely on them.
So who authorized the raid? Did they do it in ignorance of the White House's position or in spite of it?
HOUSE PASSES E-VERIFY AND EB-5 PROGRAM EXTENSIONS
They're included on the Fiscal 2009 Omnibus spending bill and will keep those programs going until September 30, 2009. The Conrad 30 and religious worker expirations are still coming next week unless a separate bill is passed or the Senate decides to get them in their version of the Omnibus.
February 25, 2009
From the National Law Journal (subscription required):
A group of immigration judges called for the U.S. attorney general to appoint one of their own as the next chief immigration judge, to reform what has been a problem-plagued and overburdened agency for years."We have been totally resource-starved and things have been very slow in coming," said Judge Dana Leigh Marks of San Francisco, who is president of the National Association of Immigration Judges.
She pointed out that last year 214 immigration judges completed 350,000 cases, in "traffic court" conditions, despite issuing decisions with consequences that may be tantamount to life or death rulings.
"This is not the time to appoint a chief immigration judge based on political or bureaucratic connections," Marks said on Tuesday.
Of course, this raises a chicken and egg problem. Are the immigration judges themselves the problem or are the conditions they're in the problem. If the former, appointing one of their own may not be as appealing as having an outside reformer.
About The Author
Greg Siskind is a partner in Siskind Susser's Memphis, Tennessee, office. After graduating magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University, he received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago. Mr. Siskind is a member of AILA, a board member of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and a member of the ABA, where he serves on the LPM Publishing Board as Marketing Vice Chairman. He is the author of several books, including the J Visa Guidebook and The Lawyer's Guide to Marketing on the Internet. Mr. Siskind practices all areas of immigration law, specializing in immigration matters of the health care and technology industries. He can be reached by email at gsiskind@visalaw.com
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