Obama on Immigration then and tomorrow

Below are some clips of Obama and his views on Immigration. Tomorrow we will preview his views on Immigration based on his speech.



and seeing the process move this "first year":

Political Winds Change Adjudications at the California Service Center

In the age of the Global Marketplace, multinational companies are vying for business not just within our borders but around the world. In many instances this means employing personnel from around the world in order to maintain a competitive advantage and keep their products on the cutting edge.

The U.S. Congress in its collective wisdom identified this Global Marketplace and adapted U.S. Immigration laws to allow multinationals the tools and human power to succeed by enacting the intracompany visa. The classification allowed for the transfer of executives and managers (L-1A) and specialized knowledge employees (L-1B) from overseas offices to the United States. A highly useful integration and innovation program, the L-1 visa classification allowed U.S. companies (whether it be based in or subsidiaries of foreign companies) to draw on the collective wisdom of its international workforce and bring those crucial employees to the U.S.

Over the course of the last 3 years, there has been a sea change in the way the immigration service is interpreting qualifications for these visa classifications. With a critical eye and an assumption that U.S. employers are shirking the immigration laws by taking advantage of the L-1 classification, the USCIS has single-handedly put the squeeze on the international marketplace and by extension the ability of the U.S. to compete on an international level.

Petitions that were approved 3 years ago are now being denied authorized extensions because of the misplaced fear and tragic assumptions of the USCIS. Employers are confused and looking for a more efficient way and place in which to conduct their global outreach and sales. Why battle with time, money and uncertainty when you can run to Canada, Ireland, Finland, Australia and be assured of a certainty, promise your clients a certain talent and achieve your goals without a surprise from the USCIS.

The policy shift threatens congresses ability to regulate the immigration laws of the U.S., contradicts years of agency guidance and interpretation, and interferes with the image of the United States as an economic power player on the global stage. All because of a shift in USCIS interpretation of why employers are using this category and the "we will show you mentality" of government bureaucrats left to their own devices. Nationally very little is understood of the economic implications of decisions by an officer at the California Service Center. Internationally, this malaise is well understood. Countries are capitalizing on our inability to hold true and speak with one voice on immigration policy. Companies are slowly realizing that their own government is hindering their ability to compete, and many are taking action.

On a weekly basis, I read of another multinational opening a North American base of operations outside the borders of the United States. This is tragic not just for the company, but hardworking Americans. Americans that would have been employed at these facilities are now seeing jobs forced outside the U.S. not necessarily because of cheap labor but rather a more stable immigration policy. We see companies moving operations to attractive and competitive international hubs with the capability of cornering the U.S. Market from outside our borders.

As we argue and the xenophobes create a political firestorm, those xenophobes may soon find they are begging for visas and jobs in Canada, Europe and Australia. How many more Detroits will come to bear before we realize the economic battle was loft at the California Service Center?

New Visa Issuance Fees at U.S. Embassies

The Department of State (DOS) has updated the fees they are going to be charging for processing visas at U.S. Embassies overseas. Previously the DOS charged a flat $131.00 fee regardless of visa type. These new fees will take effect on July 13, 2010. The new fees will affect all persons applying for a visa to be placed in their passports prior to travel to the United States. The new fees are based on the type of visa and services rendered by the U.S. Consulate.

Please remember these fees are only representative of the visa issuance fees incurred by applicants at a U.S. Embassy, they do not include Department of Homeland Security filing fees which remain unchanged.


For more information on these fees, please see the following link:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/06/143724.htm

Arizona's Immigration Laws

The State of Arizona has enacted 2 very disturbing immigration laws aimed at enforcement and threatening the United States ability to speak with one voice on issues that affect all of the sister states. As these types of laws crop up among the various sister states, the United states is placed in a perilous economic and social predicament. Chief among them, is our national identity. We are a country of immigrants and as we rip that stripe from our identity we lose a sense of ourselves, who we are and what our imange means to the huddled masses yearning to be free. Second, our economic competitiveness as a land of opportunity is seriously jeopardized when we create a climate of hostility and make it difficult for multinational companies to operate within our borders. A company faced with a common compliance code in one country would certainly choose to operate in that system, rather than operate in a system that requires 50 different sets of compliance procedures.

The current administration had made efforts to challenge the latest of the Arizona laws and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the other. These cases must be addressed and we wait with baited breath for the processes and rule of law to do what is right, restore our national identity and make the United States an attractive economic powerhorse in which to compete in the global marketplace.