Photo credit:Figgenhoffer 1,000 companies were issued Notices of Inspection (NOIs) notified last week that they would be audited and were suspect in hiring illegal immigrants. John Morton, who heads Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) commented that the companies were targeted by “investigative leads and their connection to public safety and national security.” Targets are thought to be private companies involved in infrastructure operations such as gas and electric utilities and contractors on military bases. The names of the companies were not released, however, through reviewing the media coverage around the announcement we were able to determine the locations for about half of the NOIs:

161 businesses in Texas (60 located in the San Antonio area) 150 in California 86 farms in Vermont 52 in Arizona 24 in Illinois 12 in Colorado, including Xcel Energy, Inc(which...

Photo credit: uscis.gov Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched an E-Verify ad campaign last week to recognize a few employers of the 170,000 who are currently using the system. E-Verify is an electronic employment verification system that matches up I-9s against DHS and Social Security databases. Currently, only federal contractors and sub-contractors are required to use E-Verify to determine work eligibility of new hires, where as, E-Verify is voluntary for employers. However, Secretary Napolitano touts E-Verify as “long-term reality for doing business in our country,” and the  campaign is meant to exemplify companies who are doing their part to ensure a legal workforce. Cargill, General Dynamics, Tyson Foods and Wal-Mart are just a few headline companies using E-Verify voluntarily. Critics assert that the campaign is misleading and sends the message that E-Verify is the law, while it is not. Further, critics believe that the error-riddled...

Photo Credit: c0t0s0d0 Last month, we blogged about the increased H-1B inspections and how to handle them, and now the USCIS has just released that they plan to conduct 25,000 on-site inspections of companies hiring foreign workers over this fiscal year (which started Oct. 1). This is nearly a five-fold increase in inspections over last fiscal year, when the agency conducted 5,191 site. The increased inspections and enforcement is due to increased fraud within the H-1B program – one out of five were found to be in violation of program rules. Also, back in September, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), an outspoken critic of the H-1B program and co-sponsor of an increased H-1B enforcement bill, questioned the USCIS’ anti-fraud efforts and enforcement mechanisms.

The USCIS is not only upping its inspections, but has even hired an independent information...

Photo credit: Reform Immigration for America Last night Reform Immigration for America and Congressman Luis Gutierrez held a virtual town hall entitled Families Freedom and Faith: A Call To Action to keep the IR momentum going after Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano’s recent push for 2010 IR.

Reform for Immigration Reform reported that there were 1,009 house parties that participated around the country with more than 60,000 listeners. Schools, churches and community centers all came together to show support for comprehensive immigration reform. During the call, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Congressman Raul Grijalva spoke to rally supporters and reiterate their support to making immigration reform a reality. Velazquez commented that IR was an economic necessity and that immigrant workers can actually help get the economy back on its feet. Also, Grijalva remarked that IR is not just a Mexican or Hispanic issue - it is universal and applies to all; thus, we must all come together. Further, Congressman...

Photo credit: drustar Despite a sharp decline in immigration applications, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) ended the 2009 fiscal year with a $164 million shortfall. Alejandro Mayorkas, the director of USCIS commented that it significantly needs to reduce overhead and costs to reduce budget deficit from 2009 and projections for 2010.  Further he commented that USCIS is looking into all options, and that application fee increases and layoffs would be the last resort but are options on the table. Recognizing the hefty increases in 2007, Mayorkas, highlighted that since the last fee hike the agency had dramatically reduced application processing times. 

Back in 2007, advocates charged that steep hikes could price some immigrants out of citizenship and the immigration process, and this is likely to be the case again if another fee hike becomes a serious option.  Additionally, the timing is also not ideal, given the immigration...

Photo Credit: rauchdickson Lou Dobbs, CNN anchor and immigration hard-liner, abruptly resigned on air last week. An original anchor from Ted Turner’s found CNN team, Dobbs was the only anchor allowed to mix news and his own personal commentary. Dobbs has long been an opponent of immigration and the Latino community, as he constantly hammered immigration nightly since 2004. Self-proclaimed “Mr. Independent,” his show was centered on untruths and conspiracy theories, really a “right-wing ranter who mold the facts to shape the argument” as a New York Times editorial describes him. He was known to promote immigration misinformation, and use illegal immigrants as the scapegoat for America’s problems such as crime, jobs and diseases.  He was even cited as an obstruction to immigration reform by the White House. Don’t say goodbye to Dobbs just yet. He will not be shunning the limelight. Instead...

Photo Credit: mpov

11/19 Free Webcast: Going Global – Now What? How to Send People Abroad Quickly, Legally and EconomicallyNew or fairly new to global immigration and not sure where to begin? For novices or those sending employees abroad infrequently the global immigration world can seem quite complex.

VISANOW has partnered with HR.com to present “Going Global – Now What? How to Send People Abroad Quickly, Legally and Economically” on November 19 at 1:00 p.m. ET/ 12:00 p.m. CT.

This webcast will cover:

The fundamental building blocks of a successful global immigration program Insights into common misconceptions who can work where, for how long with what visas What situations require work permits or business visas Global immigration terminology A quick reference check-list of crucial points when sending staff abroad How to manage stakeholder...

Photo credit: Meanest Indian Affecting all multinational companies that do business in India, the India Government has announced its intention to strictly enforce its business versus employment visa stipulations for project/contract workers. Also, all employment visa applications will now need to be submitted in the applicant’s country of citizenship as of September 16, 2009. Everyone working on a project or contract work on a business visa in India must leave by October 31, 2009 and apply for an employment visa. Non-compliance can result in visa denial, fines and public scrutiny for violating immigration laws.This announcement is to reiterate the proper visa sponsorship as stipulations, because in the past short term workers were obtaining business visas rather than applying for employment visas. Thus, contact your immigration services provider to ensure you remain compliant and to...

Photo credit:mpovU.S. employers have recently experienced problems obtaining labor condition application (LCA) approvals for H-1B petitions under the iCert program. The problem arises when the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) cannot verify the employer's Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). This is occurring even when the employer or attorney has entered the FEIN properly on the LCA. The DOL has confirmed this glitch which can lead to erroneous LCA denials and is working on a resolution.We are optimistic that the DOL will solve this glitch as soon as possible so that the incidents of wrongful rejections for FEIN numbers are reduced or eliminated. For now, it is safest for employers to be aware of potential delays, and to plan accordingly. Also, we recommend that employers submit evidence or documentation generated by the IRS to possibly circumvent the delays. We will...

Photo Credit: Johnny Jet  Earlier this Spring, the Australian Government began been rolling out sweeping amendments to the 457 program, which is the work permit program for long stays, impacting all current and future work permit sponsorship. The program changes were developed in 2008 to provide more integrity to the 457 program with the objective of employing skilled labor to Australia unexploited while not monopolizing the local market and training opportunities. Due to a skills shortage and lack of investment, the program grew rapidly from 2003-2007.  However, this also brought about concern that the 457 program workers were being exploited and employers were abusing the system. Program updates are wide-ranging as the program has been completely overhauled from sponsor obligations to governmental non-compliance powers to visa applicant increased nomination requirements. Stop-gap solutions...