Page 19 - Us Immigration

US Visa Bulletin January 2025: Changes for Indians in EB-2, EB-3 categories

The US bulletin shows mixed movement across employment-based categories, with some progress in the Final Action Dates for applicants from India and China

US has broad support for expanding legal immigration, says Neera Tanden

America is a nation of immigrants, and there's broad support for expanding legal immigration in the country, a top domestic policy advisor to US President Joe Biden has said amidst a raging debate on the most sought-after H-1B visa. The H-1B visa programme allows US companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in speciality occupations. Indian companies have been significant beneficiaries of this programme, particularly in the technology sector. I think even in the raging immigration debate, it's really important for all of us to remember that we are a nation of immigrants, and there's broad support for expanding legal immigration in the country,". We'll see how that goes in the future, but that's been the case, Indian-American Neera Tanden told PTI in an interview. Indians are the main beneficiaries of the H-1B visas, which bring in the best of the talent and brains from across the world. Highly skilled professionals from India walk away with the overwhelming number of H-1B visa

Steal a Coke can, get arrested: This new US Bill targets illegal immigrants

The Laken Riley Act, recently passed by the US House of Representatives, makes it mandatory to detain undocumented immigrants arrested for certain non-violent crimes like theft, or shoplifting

US agency deports over 272K people to 192 nations, highest since 2014

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 270,000 people to 192 countries, including India, over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade, according to a report released Thursday that illustrates some of the financial and operational challenges that President-elect Donald Trump will face to carry out his pledge of mass deportations. ICE, the main government agency responsible for removing people in the country illegally, had 271,484 deportations in its fiscal year ended Sept 30, nearly double from 142,580 in the same period a year earlier. It was ICE's highest deportation count since 2014, when it removed 315,943 people. The highest it reached during Trump's first term in the White House was 267,258 in 2019. Increased deportation flights, including on weekends, and streamlined travel procedures for people sent to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador fuelled the increase, ICE said. The agency had its first large flight to China in six years and al

US eases immigration routes for J-1 visa holders from India, China

For Indian professionals, researchers, and students, the changes open new opportunities

US senators propose bill to reunite families, raise immigration cap

Two Democratic Party Senators on Wednesday introduced a legislation aimed at reuniting the immigrant families and raising the per-country family-based immigration caps, allowing more visas to go to a single country such as India and China. Introduced by Senators Mazie K. Hirono, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Tammy Duckworth introduced the Reuniting Families Act, which would promote family unity in the country's immigration system, reduce the family-based immigration backlogs, and update laws to reflect how families immigrate to the US. The bill also includes Senator Hirono's Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act, legislation that would speed up the visa process for children of Filipino World War II veterans. As the only immigrant currently serving in the US Senate, I am proud to introduce the Reuniting Families Act to update our country's family immigration system and promote family unity, said Hirono. By implementing changes to reduce the backlog of ...

H-1B visa cap for 2025 reached: What applicants should look out for now

USCIS will notify applicants about their selection status through their online accounts

Trump wins: From CIA to immigration, roles Ramaswamy, Kash Patel may clinch

With Donald Trump winning the 2024 US presidential election after beating Kamala Harris, Americans of Indian descent like Vivek Ramaswamy, Kash Patel, and Bobby Jindal could clinch top US govt roles

US green card: Indian techies face long wait, Musk claims Trump will 'fix'

"Getting a green card isn't a right; it's a privilege, determined by yearly quotas," says Ajay Sharma

US has broken immigration system that needs to be repaired: Kamala Harris

The United States has a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday in a rare interview with the Republican-leaning news channel during which she sparred with its popular host. The point is that we have a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired,' Harris told Fox News anchor Bret Baier in a rare sit-down with the news channel. So, your Homeland Security Secretary said that 85 per cent of apprehensions, Baier interjected. I'm not finished. We have an immigration system, Harris tried to continue with her answer. It's a rough estimate that 6 million people have been released into the country, the Fox News anchor interrupted again. And let me just finish. I'll get to the question. I promise you. I was beginning to answer, the vice president pleaded. When you came into office, your administration immediately reversed a number of Trump border policies. Most significantly, the policy that required illegal immigrants to b

Florida hospitals question immigrants' legal status, Texas plans to follow

For three days, the staff of an Orlando medical clinic encouraged a woman with abdominal pain who called the triage line to go to the hospital. She resisted, scared of a 2023 Florida law that required hospitals to ask whether a patient was in the U.S. with legal permission. The clinic had worked hard to explain the limits of the law, which was part of Gov. Ron DeSantis' sweeping package of tighter immigration policies. The clinic posted signs and counseled patients: They could decline to answer the question and still receive care. Individual, identifying information wouldn't be reported to the state. We tried to explain this again and again and again, but the fear was real, Grace Medical Home CEO Stephanie Garris said, adding the woman finally did go to an emergency room for treatment. Texas will be the next to try a similar law for hospitals enrolled in state health plans, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. It takes effect Nov. 1 just before the end of a ...

Trump proposes green cards for foreign students graduating from US colleges

Former US President Donald Trump made a departure from his anti-immigration stance and proposed handing out green cards to all foreign students who graduate from US colleges

Indian Americans should run for office at all levels: Raja Krishnamoorthi

It's time for Indian Americans to run for office at all levels and never miss to vote, influential Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi told community members gathered here from across the country. We have to vote. Will everyone here vote in that coming election? Because we can talk politics all day, but doing politics is what matters. Remember, politics is not just a noun, it's a verb. And we have to do politics this year. We have to vote, Krishnamoorthi told a room full of eminent Indian Americans who had gathered in the American Capital for the annual summit of Indian American Impact, a Democratic think-tank. Secondly, we have to work on political causes bigger than ourselves. We have to support our local mandirs. We have to support our local mosques. We have to support our local not-for-profits. I hope you do that and you give generously. But we also have to work on political issues bigger than ourselves, said the Indian American Congressman, who represents the suburb of Chicago in th

Despite being country of immigrants, US immigration system broken: Thanedar

Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar said Tuesday that the US has a broken immigration system and should be replaced by an orderly process that benefits the US, its economy and helps create American jobs. America is a nation of immigrants and yet we have a broken immigration system, Thanedar said during a Congressional hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee on the Fiscal Year 2025 Department of Homeland Security Budget Request. In 1979, growing up in poverty, I was fortunate to have gotten admission into a PhD program in the United States to study. And that would have changed my life. And I went to the American embassy in Mumbai. Got there at 5 am in the morning, stood in line, only to be denied my student visa, he said. The embassy continued to deny it four more times. The fifth time, the visa got approved, only because the denying officer was on vacation to the United States. You know, our H-1B visas are an issue. Our immigration -- country quotas are creating such

Resolution tabled in US Cong condemning attacks on Hindu places of worship

Celebrating the contributions of Hindus and Hinduism to the US, a prominent Indian-American Congressman has introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives condemning Hinduphobia, anti-Hindu bigotry, hate and intolerance. The resolution that was introduced by Congressman Shri Thanedar on Wednesday has been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. The resolution reads that despite their positive contributions to the United States, Hindu Americans face stereotypes and disinformation about their heritage and symbols, and have been the targets of bullying in schools and on college campuses, as well as discrimination, hate speech, and bias-motivated crimes. According to the FBI's Hate Crimes Statistics Report, anti-Hindu hate crimes targeting mandirs and persons are annually on the rise while in parallel Hinduphobia in American society is unfortunately rising, the resolution said. Noting that the United States has welcomed more than four million Hindus f

US immigration adds 'third gender' option on citizenship forms

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has introduced a third gender option, "X," on the Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. Watch the video to learn how one can update

Ex-PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi advises Indian students in US to be 'watchful'

Nooyi advised Indian students to respect local laws and not engage in drugs or excessive drinking

Programme that allows 30K migrants from 4 nations into US each month upheld

A federal judge in Texas on Friday upheld a key piece of President Joe Biden's immigration policy that allows a limited number of migrants from four countries to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds, dismissing a challenge from Republican-led states that said the program created an economic burden on them. U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton ruled in favor of the humanitarian parole program that allows up to 30,000 asylum-seekers into the U.S. each month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela combined. Eliminating the program would undercut a broader policy that seeks to encourage migrants to use the Biden administration's preferred pathways into the U.S. or face stiff consequences. Texas and 20 other states that sued argued the program is forcing them to spend millions on health care, education, and public safety for the migrants. An attorney working with the Texas attorney general's office in the legal challenge said that the program created a shadow immigration ...

Over 8,5000 migrants died worldwide, highest since UN started counting

A total of 8,565 migrants died on land and sea routes worldwide last year, the U.N. migration agency said Wednesday, a record high since it began counting deaths a decade ago. The International Organization for Migration said the biggest increase in deaths last year was on the treacherous Mediterranean Sea crossing, to 3,129 from 2,411 in 2022. However, that was well below the record 5,136 deaths recorded on the Mediterranean in 2016 as huge numbers of Syrians, Afghans and others fled conflicts toward Europe. IOM said the total number of deaths among migrants in 2023 was nearly 20% more than the previous year. It said most of the deaths last year, about 3,700, came from drowning. The count also includes migrants who vanished often while trying to cross by sea and are presumed dead even if their bodies were not found. The Geneva-based migration agency cautioned that the figures likely underestimate the real toll, and factors such as improved data collection methods play a part in

Surge in immigration to boost US GDP by $7 trn over decade, says CBO

The agency's estimates come amid a fierce political debate in Washington over the surge of migration at the US-Mexico border and what should be done to control it