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Legislation and Policy

Relinquishing Excellence: Closing the Door to Foreign Professionals Undermines the U.S. Economy

According to a recent National Science Board report, restrictive U.S. visa policies are beginning to close the door to highly skilled foreign professionals who have long helped maintain U.S. preeminence in science and technology.

Published On: Sat, May 01, 2004 | Download File

"Eating Bitterness": The Impact of Asian-Pacific Migration on U.S. Immigration Policy

Asian-Pacific migration to the United States has had a positive impact on immigration and refugee law by contributing to the demise of exclusion acts against non-whites and of the nationality-based quota system. (

Published On: Sat, May 01, 2004 | Download File

Labor Market Numerology: Arbitrary Congressional Limits on Temporary Worker Visas

The current numerical limits on visas for both high-skilled and seasonal workers prevent U.S. businesses from hiring the workers they need, while doing nothing to protect the jobs or wages of native workers. Labor rights are most effectively guaranteed by enforcing labor protections, not by imposing arbitrary numerical caps.

Published On: Thu, Apr 01, 2004 | Download File

Beyond the High-Tech Bubble: The Changing Demand for H-1B Professionals

Contrary to popular myth, H-1B professionals represent only a tiny fraction of the total U.S. labor force and do not crowd out native-born workers in industries that are losing jobs. Rather, H-1B workers fill growing labor needs in a variety of fields that continue to add jobs, such as education and healthcare.

Published On: Thu, Apr 01, 2004 | Download File

Health Worker Shortages & the Potential of Immigration Policy

Foreign-born and foreign-trained professionals play an important role in the delivery of health care in the United States. This report examines the important role of immigrant doctors and nurses – many of whom have received their training abroad – in the U.S. health industry, using new Census Bureau data as well as information from numerous interviews with health industry experts.

Published On: Sun, Feb 01, 2004 | Download File

An Unlikely Fit: Will the Undocumented Apply for a Temporary Status?

A guest worker program that lacks a clearly defined path to a permanent status is an unlikely fit for many of the 9.3 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States, most of whom have deep roots in U.S. families, communities and businesses.

Published On: Sun, Feb 01, 2004 | Download File

Crossing Borders Alone: The Treatment of Unaccompanied Children in the United States

Children who travel unaccompanied to the United States experience not only the trauma of family separation and the frequently predatory behavior of the traffickers who bring them, but also harsh treatment by an immigration bureaucracy that often incarcerates them with little access to legal counsel or professional support.

Published On: Fri, Jan 02, 2004 | Download File

The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

President Bush’s proposal to address the problem of undocumented immigration by creating more opportunities for legal immigration and providing a legal status to those already here is a useful starting point in reforming a broken immigration system that costs hundreds of lives and billions of dollars every year.

Published On: Thu, Jan 01, 2004 | Download File

The Lessons of 9/11: A Failure of Intelligence, Not Immigration Law

In the hours following the deadly terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States government took the extraordinary step of sealing U.S. borders to traffic and trade by grounding all aircraft flying into or out of the country and imposing a lock-down on the networks of transportation and commerce that are the lifeblood of our economy and society. Given the uncertainty over what might happen next, these emergency procedures were a necessary and appropriate short-term response to the attacks.

Published On: Mon, Dec 01, 2003 | Download File

Lives in Limbo: Mismanagement of a Bad Policy Leaves Asylees in No Man's Land

Victims of persecution who make it to the United States and are granted asylum from their persecutors must wait 12 years to become lawful permanent residents and 16 years to become U.S. citizens because of arbitrary numerical caps and federal mismanagement. This state of affairs not only is inhumane, but undermines the original intent of Congress to help those who have escaped persecution to integrate quickly into U.S. society.

Published On: Sat, Aug 02, 2003 | Download File