Miami Immigration and Naturalization Law Blog

In our previous post we discussed immigration reforms suggested by the Immigration Policy Center of the American Immigration Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that could potentially have a positive impact on the economic growth of the United States. In this post we will discuss reforms that the Department of Homeland Security is hoping to make to U.S. immigration law to make it easier for highly-skilled immigrants to either enter or stay in the U.S. for employment.

According to the DHS, these changes are, in part, an effort to address the economic needs of the U.S. In the short term President Obama is said to support legislation that would bring in and allow to remain, immigrants through the creation of what is being called a "Startup Visa." In addition, the legislation make the H-1B program stronger and allow green cards to be "stapled" to diplomas of graduates in the U.S. with degrees in STEM fields-science, technology, engineering and math.

Earlier this month the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the list of countries, whose nationals can take part in the H-2A and H-2B programs this next year. In total, 58 countries are eligible. This number is up by five from last year. New to list are Iceland, Spain, Montenegro, Switzerland and Haiti.

The H-2A and H-2B guest worker visas are designed to allow individuals from the 58 specified countries into the United States to work in certain types of positions. Nationals who are hired to work in the agricultural field as laborers are usually given an H-2A visa. Those who are employed for work that is considered more seasonal, such as food service, construction and hotels are given H-2B visas.

Throughout the nation, over the past year, employers of illegal workers have faced immigration enforcement from the United State's Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Popular chain restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill was especially hard hit when an inspection completed as part of a silent raid uncovered more than 500 workers who were undocumented. As a result of the employment immigration inspection, more than 450 employees were let go in Minnesota alone. Restaurants in Virginia and Washington, D.C. also were affected.

Many likely assume that in the current job market the positions left open were quickly filled. This however, is not the case. The quality of applicants the company must now interview has resulted in seeing three to four more individuals to fill each opening. The problem is illustrated in the results of a recent job fair in Washington state. After interviewing 100 candidates, only eight were hired.

In our last post we discussed the increased demand by residents of China to obtain a visa to enter the United States. This week we explore the matter in relation to another country where the demand is growing at a brisk pace - Brazil.

As we discussed in our previous post, the U.S. Department of State is doing what it can to keep up with the visa demand from countries with strong economies such as Brazil. A motivation for addressing this demand is the number of jobs an increase in tourism from Brazil could bring into this country.