The Truth Behind Immigration and Outsourcing: Immigration Keeps Jobs in the U.S.

Immigration helps keep jobs in the U.S. rather than losing them to other countries, especially when it comes to IT jobs, as explained by this Forbes article.  In fact, at many American universities the majority of graduate students in engineering and computer science are international students who hope to work in the U.S. in highly skilled and technical positions. The more high-skilled visa workers that we have here, the less need we have to send work abroad to be performed by high-skilled workers located outside the U.S.  Employment of high-skilled workers in the U.S. strengthens American companies and creates more jobs in the U.S. We should not give in to xenophobia and our laws should welcome and encourage immigration of intelligent, ambitious, educated, highly skilled, and creative individuals from throughout the world.

Timothy R. Bakken
Founder

Will DACA Die? Hundreds of Thousands Afraid of Deportation

Young adults who came to the United States as children fear being deported to their home country under the new Presidential administration. Jessica Colotl tells her story of coming to the United States as an 11-year-old with her undocumented family and the challenges she has faced as a result. The futures of over 750,000 DACA recipients like Jessica are more uncertain than ever. To read the full story from Politico, click here. 

Timothy R. Bakken
Founder

Students, tourists, and other travelers beware! New visa vetting rules could result in delays.

Despite objections from privacy experts and academic and scientific communities in the U.S., the Trump administration has approved new rules that will allow State Department officers to request visa applicants’ last five years of social media handles, email addresses, and phone numbers, and the last fifteen years of residential, employment, and travel history. See full Reuters story here, click. 

These new rules will give even more discretion to visa officers than they already have.  Get ready for longer processing times at U.S. Consulates and an increase in visa denials, many of which will be based on innocent mistakes by applicants. Allegedly, the requests for additional information will be “voluntary”, though applicants who refuse to voluntarily provide the requested information may find their visa applications delayed or even denied. Stay tuned….

Timothy R. Bakken
Founder

Failure to pay light rail fare results in deportation proceedings.

Sure, the gentleman described in this article in the New York Times , should pay a fine for failing to pay his light rail fare.  But, does anyone really believe deporting this person accomplishes anything other than appeasing extreme and hysterical anti-immigrant sentiments?

Timothy R. Bakken
Founder

A dose of sanity from the Denver City Council to help combat anti-immigrant hysteria.

Thank you to the Denver City Council for unanimously approving changes to the city municipal code that will reduce the maximum possible penalties for certain criminal convictions. Read the full Denver Post article here.  

These changes will reduce the chances of deportation for immigrants, whether documented or not, convicted of relatively minor crimes. 
 

Timothy R. Bakken

Deportation efforts increasing dramatically under new regime.

As reported in USA Today, ICE has arrested 38% percent more undocumented immigrants so far this year as compared to last year.  More disturbing, though, is the fact that arrests of those with no criminal record increased 156%!

Timothy R. Bakken.