The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) reported today that it has accepted 44,300 H-1B visa applications so far in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011.  When we last reported on the number of H-1B visa applications accepted by the USCIS on October 20, 2010, the agency counted 42,800 applications.  Between last week and today the USCIS accepted 1,500 applications, a spike from [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that in Florida, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) officers under the leadership of Marc Moore who was appointed by the DHS earlier this year to head the USICE’s Office of Detention & Removal at the Miami Field Office, oversaw the deportations of over 15,000 foreign nationals, most of them were deported because of their criminal convictions. [...]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reported today that it has begun issuing a new version of the Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550) with enhanced security features to combat fraud. The enhanced features on the new certificates include the individual’s digitized photo and signature laser printed into the document.  The background on the certificate has also been enhanced and contains a color-shifting ink pattern that is difficult [...]

The Los Angeles Times reported today that in an interview last week in Los Angeles, the President put fault on Republicans in Congress for their unwillingness to come together and work with him to to reform our country’s immigration laws that would legalize approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants. During the interview, he mentioned that when immigration reform was being debated in Congress back in 2006, 11 Republican [...]

The New York Times reported today that New York State Governor David A. Paterson formed a special clemency panel consisting of a group of five (5) individuals from the governor’s office and state agencies earlier this year to expedite the granting of clemency, otherwise known as pardons to lawful permanent residents (green card holders) who are in deportation proceedings for criminal convictions that [...]

The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) via its Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), issued two (2) precedent decisions yesterday.  Those decisions are published by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) as part of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Furthermore, those decisions are binding on all USCIS and DOJ personnel for deciding cases.  The precedents that were set established rules and reasonings for deciding [...]

The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) reported recently that as of its most recent count, 42,800 H-1B visa applications have been accepted for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011.  The USCIS will accept applications until the annual quota of 65,000 visas authorized by Congress is reached. When we last reported on the USCIS’ acceptance rate of H-1B visas on October 14, 2010, between then and now, the agency has [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano reported yesterday that the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (USCBP), a component of the DHS, reported a 17% reduction in arrests in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 which ended on September 30, 2010. According to the DHS Secretary, the reduction in arrests is the result of a combination of factors such as the downward economy, heightened [...]

The New York Times reported this past weekend about an immigrant from St. Kitts named Joseph E. Joseph who registered to vote back in 1992, voted in every presidential election since then and because of what he referred to as “doing his his civic duty”, he now faces deportation. In the U.S., only citizens are authorized to vote in [...]

I read an article today titled, “Social Networking Sites and Their Importance to FDNS.”  The article discussed how officers from the USCIS’ Fraud Detection & National Security Directorate use social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and similar sites in their efforts to combat immigration and visa fraud. Immigration fraud schemes have been on the rise and sentences for the same are becoming increasingly stiffer.  Recently in [...]