The Obama administration has proven itself an unlikely stalwart in the removal of illegal immigrants from the United States.  Many who are skeptical of the administration’s immigration policy were surprised to read an October 18, 2011 News Release issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement which boasted that it had removed 396,906 individuals from the United States which is the largest number of removals in the history of the agency.  This isn’t really a surprise for immigration attorneys but the media has taken note of these numbers in various articles this week and last week.  Some interesting statistics from the News Release include the removal of 216,698 people who were convicted of felonies or misdemeanors including 1,119 convicted of homicide; 5,848 convicted of sex offenses; 44,653 convicted of drug related crimes and 35,972 convicted of driving under the influence.

On October 11, 2011 USCIS issued a press release announcing its “Entrepreneurs in Residence” initiative.  “This new innovative initiative will utilize industry expertise to strengthen USCIS policies and practices surrounding immigrant investors, entrepreneurs and workers with specialized skills, knowledge, or abilities.”

The initiative appears to be designed to obtain critical feedback from the public and private sector regarding employment based immigration and how to maximize America’s benefit from such programs.  USCIS will be conducting a series of informational summits with industry leaders and then create a team comprised of entrepreneurs, industry experts and USCIS personnel to design and implement effective solutions.  According to the press release, “The initiative builds upon USCIS’s August announcement of efforts to promote startup enterprises and spur job creation, including enhancements to the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program”.

The immigration debate in America often lumps various aspects of immigration into one bucket when the reality is that US immigration has various components to it.  This initiative is a good start in fixing the business immigration component.  The reality is that many of the employment visas are issued to entrepreneurs who create jobs for Americans.  We need all the help we can get in this economy!

The American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA) requires every H-1B petitioner to pay a training fee of either $750 or $1500 (depending on the size of the petitioner) for each H-1B petition that a petitioner files.  These ACWIA fees are used to train US workers in job areas that petitioners traditionally use H-1B workers.

Did you ever wonder exactly where these ACWIA dollars go?  The US Department of Labor recently announced $159 million in grants awarded to 36 public-private partnerships that will train US workers in areas that are currently filled by H-1B workers.  The areas include “advanced manufacturing, energy, health care and information technology”.  The funding for these grants came from ACWIA training fees collected through H-1B filings.  $85 million will be used to train individuals who have been unemployed for more than six months.  Another $70 million will be used to provide on-the-job training to program participants.

The US Department of Labor’s press release can be found at:  http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20111453.htm