WT - Grassley calls for more visa screeners. GOP senator writes to Clinton.

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

Grassley calls for more visa screeners


GOP senator writes to Clinton


By Nicholas Kralev

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A senior Republican senator urged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday to drastically increase the number of specialized units at U.S. embassies around the world that screen visa applicants for security concerns, including ties to terrorists or other criminal groups.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"In a letter to Mrs. Clinton, Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa decried the slow pace of setting up visa-security units — only at 14 of more than 220 U.S. missions abroad so far - and blamed the State Department for putting "roadblocks" to efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to boost its presence at several consulates."

"Congress directed DHS when it was established in 2002 to create the units in question to help State Department consular officers abroad in screening visa applicants."

"After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., there were calls in Congress for the State Department to be stripped of its visa-issuing responsibilities, but the secretary of state at the time, Colin L. Powell, managed to keep that function in his agency. The visa-security units were created as a compromise."

"State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed Monday that there are 14 visa-security units in 12 countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Egypt and Venezuela, but he rejected Mr. Grassley's accusations."

&


continued

"While some critics blame the State Department, which has full authority to cancel visas without permission from other agencies, others say the intelligence community should have recommended revocation based on information it had — but the State Department did not."

THBL - US lawmaker seeks tighter checks on H-1B visa frauds

From my archive of press clippings:

The Hindu Business Line

US lawmaker seeks tighter checks on H-1B visa frauds

Moumita Bakshi Chatterjee

New Delhi, Nov. 9 The din over H-1B visa programme is rising once again.
US Senator Charles Grassley – the co-author of the Durbin-Grassley Bill, which had proposed to limit the H-1B hirings to 50 per cent of the total workforce of an employer – has shot off a letter to US immigration authorities seeking tighter checks on frauds and abuse of the high-skilled visa programme.

Read the whole article here.

BW - H1B Visa Law: Trying Again

From my archive of press clippings:


Business Week

H1B Visa Law: Trying Again


April 24, 2009, 12:01AM EST


Senators Dick Durbin and Charles Grassley plan to reintroduce legislation aimed at curbing abuses of the H-1B visa program


By Moira Herbst


Two U.S. senators are reintroducing legislation aimed at revamping the H-1B visa program for guest workers in the U.S., at a time of rising unemployment and growing evidence that the program has been marred by fraud. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) hope that the bill, "The H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud & Prevention Act of 2009," has a better chance of passing now than when they originally introduced it in 2007.

Snippet(s):

"The bill would not reduce the number of H-1B visas—now 85,000 per year—but contains provisions to increase oversight and enforcement and discourage outsourcing of H-1B visa holders. It also requires all employers seeking to hire an H-1B visa holder to pledge that they have made a "good faith" effort to hire American workers first, and that the H-1B visa holder will not displace an American worker. Under current law, only heavy users of the program must make such a pledge."

"Microsoft came under fire in January when it announced it would lay off 5,000 workers while continuing to seek H-1B visas. On the company's first-quarter earnings call on Apr. 23, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said the company wants to add 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs in "higher growth" areas over the next 18 months. He said Microsoft's overall applications for H-1B visas are down about 20% and new-hire visas down 40% from last year."

"The introduction of the bill comes as concern has spread about the H-1B program's susceptibility to fraud. In October, the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services released a report stating that 13% of H-1B visa applications are fraudulent and another 7% contain some form of technical violations."

continued

(page 2 of 2)

"The new bill calls for the Labor Dept. to conduct random audits of at least 1% of companies using the H-1B program, and would require the agency to conduct annual audits of companies with more than 100 employees that have 15% or more of those workers on H-1B visas. The bill also authorizes 200 additional Labor Dept. employees to administer, oversee, investigate, and enforce guest worker programs such as H-1B. The bill would also require that employers advertise a job opening for 30 days on a Labor Dept. Web site before seeking a visa for such a position. It would also forbid employers from advertising a job as available only for H-1B visa holders."

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"The bill also includes a number of changes to the L-1 visa program, which is used for intracompany transfers of employees for up to seven years. It would establish for the first time a process for Labor Dept. officials to investigate, audit, and penalize L-1 visa abuses."

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Herbst is a reporter for BusinessWeek in New York.

BW - H-1B Visa Law: Trying Again. Senators Dick Durbin and Charles Grassley plan to reintroduce legislation aimed at curbing abuses of the H-1B visa.

From my archive of press clippings:

Business Week

H-1B Visa Law: Trying Again

Senators Dick Durbin and Charles Grassley plan to reintroduce legislation aimed at curbing abuses of the H-1B visa program

By Moira Herbst


April 24, 2009, 12:01AM EST


Two U.S. senators are reintroducing legislation aimed at revamping the H-1B visa program for guest workers in the U.S., at a time of rising unemployment and growing evidence that the program has been marred by fraud. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) hope that the bill, "The H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud & Prevention Act of 2009," has a better chance of passing now than when they originally introduced it in 2007.

Read the whole article here.

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Herbst is a reporter for BusinessWeek in New York.

Y! - AP Investigation: Banks sought foreign workers

Yahoo!News

AP Investigation: Banks sought foreign workers


By FRANK BASS and RITA BEAMISH, Associated Press Writers Frank Bass And Rita Beamish,


Associated Press Writers – 37 mins ago


AP – In this Sept. 26, 2007, file photo Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, talks to reporters in his Capitol Hill …


SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Banks collecting billions of dollars in federal bailout money sought government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers to the U.S. for high-paying jobs, according to an Associated Press review of visa applications.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The dozen banks receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling more than $150 billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years for positions that included senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts and human resources specialists. The average annual salary for those jobs was $90,721, nearly twice the median income for all American households."