Increased Immigration Fees Denounced
363876
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) joined a chorus of immigrant advocacy groups in condemning the Bush administration's plan to charge legal immigrants significantly more money to obtain green cards, adjust their residency status and bring relatives to the United States.
216848
A controversial air travel tax increase has sparked confusion and anger, as travellers faced paying extra when they checked in and airlines threatened legal action.
747332
A cry is rising that illegal immigrants are being &quot;criminalized&quot; because the state Department of Motor Vehicles is cracking down on people who used fake Social Security numbers to get driver&#39;s licenses. Well, guess what? Anyone who does that is a ...
347742
Senators pushing a new immigration policy appealed Sunday to wavering supporters ahead of renewed debate on securing the borders and dealing with 12 million undocumented immigrants.
334810
Hello, user fees. The air traffic control system needs an upgrade.
769752
DAVID BLUNKETT was under increased pressure today following new allegations that a visa application by his former lover&#39;s nanny was speeded up.
58554
The Story: Silicon Valley businesses have long argued that changes in the immigration laws are needed to ensure a continuing supply of highly skilled workers. The current limit of 65,000 under the standard H1-B visas is not enough, they say. (The quota was filled in less than a month in 2007.)[ Slideshow: 2007's top underreported tech stories ]                                                    But that number obscures an important fact: The real total of visas issued to highly skilled workers is closer to 400,000 annually, according to the federal Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) agency. And that, say some critics, may mean that the law is being abused.There are two reasons the number is so large.First, the H1-B visa cap has a built-in exemption that allows an additional 20,000 workers who have graduated from U.S. universities with an advanced degree (master?s or higher) to enter every year.Second ? and the biggest reason ? is the use of L-1 visas, which are granted to executives and workers with specialized skills employed by multinational companies. Because there is no cap on L-1 visas issued each year, the numbers have soared. In the last three years, an average of 315,000 L-1 visas have been issued each year.Unlike the H-1B visas, the L-1 visas are not intended to be a springboard to possible permanent residency and a coveted green card. In essence, the L-1s are intended to allow multinational companies to rotate staff across national borders, so they can transfer foreign managers and specialists within the company to U.S. offices for a limited period of time.But the vast number of workers admitted with L-1 visas has critics suspecting that companies ? Indian outsourcing firms in particular ?are using them as a back door to bring in lower-paid workers to do jobs that could be performed by Americans, rather than for the intended purposes of staff rotation."It's clear that foreign outsourcing firms are abusing the system, and we can't let that continue," Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said earlier this year as Congress debated immigration reform. Here?s what upset him: According to immigration records, 14 of 20 companies whose employees were granted the most L-1 visas were offshore outsourcing firms, including Tata Consultancy, Satyam Computer Services, Wipro, and Infosys Technologies.Tata Consultancy obtained 4,887 L-1s in fiscal 2006 ? the most of any company ? and 3,601 in fiscal 2007, second only to Cognizant (4,869), a U.S.-based outsourcer with a major presence in India. "I find it hard to believe that any one company has that many individuals ? legitimately being transferred within a single year," Durbin said in Congress. (Tata declined to comment to InfoWorld, but a spokesman told BusinessWeek, "We're complying with the law and with the regulations. We want to work with Congress to address any issues they may have.")Infosys, Wipro, Satyam, Tata, and Cognizant also appear on the CIS?s top 10 list of companies obtaining H-1B visas for employees in fiscal 2007, along with Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Motorola, and Intel. Those facts further raise critics? suspicions.Bob Meltzer, who heads the VisaNow firm that helps applicants obtain visas, says there?s a growing belief that the L-1s are being abused today, though he can?t tell if that belief is justified. He does note that the L-1s had been abused in the early 1990s in the manner that critics suspect is happening today.The Bottom Line: Immigration is a tough issue. And it?s even tougher when we don?t have all the facts, as is the case on employers? claims of labor shortages requiring more foreign hires and employees? claims of being replaced by foreign workers by companies looking to save a buck. When you?ve figured out the right balance, let the pols know what you think.Complete list of 2007's underreported stories: 1.? Java is becoming the new Cobol 2.? Sun Microsystems is back in the game 3.? Hackers take aim at Mac OS X 4.? There are some threats you can worry less about 5.? Companies may have found a way around H-1B visa limits 6.? Open source?s new commercial strategy 7.? End-to-end Ethernet finally arrives 8.? Blade servers arrive for the masses 9.? BI is dead; long live BI 10. Balance of power shifts to software buyers
268269
Republicans and Democrats united against President Bush's proposal to increase security fees on airline tickets, saying that the costs of securing the nation's aviation system should be paid for by government.
509971
Clutching American flags and signs that read "America was formed by immigrants," more than 300 protesters on Saturday denounced a city proposal that would prohibit landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants.
258701
The move is a sign of greater dissent over current monetary policy than had previously been disclosed.
373719
Another no-change rule change? Analysis Immigration Minister Liam Byrne is to celebrate the first wave of the ID card rollout next year with a scary ad campaign threatening employers of illegal immigrants with fines of Â£10,000 per offence and up to two years in prison. But even by the low standards of the Home Office, "the biggest shake-up of the immigration system for 40 years" promises to be impressively toothless - if Byrne is depending on the fine income for the 2009 New Year party, he will be a disappointed man.â¦
370612
Costs have increased steadily in recent years, causing some to wonder about quality.
135239
STOCKHOLM, Aug 6 (IPS) - Rejected Afghan and Iraqi asylum-seekers have  launched nationwide protest against a stricter migration policy.
423249
More American citizens abroad are renouncing their ties to the United States over surging expatriate taxes.
446816
JPMorgan Chase & Company and Citigroup said they were changing some cardholder rates and fees that lawmakers say unfairly hurt consumers.
50442
The homeland security secretary said the increase were tied to efforts to stop smuggling and illegal immigration.
267285
It would cost at least $94 billion to find, detain and remove all 12 million people believed to be staying illegally in the United States, the federal government estimated Wednesday.