The various federal agencies that deal with border security and immigration issues are still not on the same page, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General. The report concludes that agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol still have significant problems linking databases and maintaining efficient lines of communication.
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have sent a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas raising concerns over potential fraud within the L-1B visa program. The L-1B visa is a temporary work visa that allows foreign workers with "specialized skills" who are employed by a U.S. based company to work in a U.S. office for up to seven years.
Applicants for business licenses in Salt Lake County, UT will have to provide written assurance that they have used E-Verify to guarantee the legal working status of their employees.
The Department of Homeland Security is finalizing its plan for a biometric data system to track when immigrants leave the United States and will present it to Congress within weeks, a DHS top official said today during a Congressional hearing. This comes weeks after DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the current biographical data works well and said there were no plans to implement an exit system.
Immigration officials say that three illegal immigrants will not be deported after they protested a North Carolina legislative meeting on cracking down on illegal immigration.
A group of illegal immigrants walked into the meeting wearing T-shirts that declared "Undocumented and Unafraid", according to Fox News Latino.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director John Morton has offered to pay the costs of holding suspected illegal immigrants who are arrested for other crimes in Cook County, IL, as part of an effort to get county officials to reconsider their refusal to cooperate with federal detention requests.
A judge upheld part a Fremont, Nebraska 2010 ordinance that require all employers to use the federal E-Verify database to ensure employees are legal.
U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp rejected another part of the ordinance that would have denied housing permits to illegal immigrants.
Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia is leading an effort to block proposed budget cuts in the 287(g) program that has helped local law enforcements officers identify more than 275,000 illegal immigrants in their custody, The Houston Chronicle reported.
U.S. Customs and Immigration Services has expanded its E-Verify self-check tool from 21 test states to all 50 states. Self Check is a free online service that allows individuals to check their worker eligibility status before applying for a new job.
Frank Sharry, Founder and Director of pro-amnesty group America's Voice and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) went at it about immigration in The Huffington Post.