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Supreme Court upholds broad conception of birthright citizenship
21 days ago
- Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump's executive order to deny citizenship to children of unauthorized or temporary residents.
- Court's decision aligns with 14th Amendment interpretation, emphasizing citizenship based on birthplace, not parents' immigration status.
- Ruling also upholds state laws banning transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports teams and strikes down limits on party spending in federal elections.
- Justice Department to prioritize cracking down on 'birth tourism' schemes post-ruling.
- Dissent from Justice Thomas argues citizenship should require deeper ties to the country, not just birth on U.S. soil.
- Reactions include relief from immigrant families, criticism from conservatives, and calls for constitutional amendment to restrict birthright citizenship.
New DHS rules limit foreign student visas to 4 years plus extensions
5 days ago
- DHS eliminates 'duration of status' loophole for foreign students, exchange visitors, and media representatives, ending indefinite stays without oversight.
- New rule sets fixed admission periods (up to 4 years for F and J visas) and requires formal extensions via USCIS, including biometric vetting and background checks.
- Reduces departure grace period from 60 to 30 days and restricts academic changes to combat visa abuse and strengthen national security.
How did the H1B visa become the 'Indian' visa
5 hours ago
- The H-1B visa was created in 1990 with a 65,000 cap, but actual annual approvals are about 4.7 times higher due to exemptions for universities, nonprofits, and renewals, totaling around 399,000 in FY2024.
- The program is dominated by Indian IT workers, who receive about 71% of H-1B approvals, while the green card per-country cap (7%) creates multi-decade waits, effectively trapping workers and enabling exploitation.
- Beyond the H-1B, larger pathways like Optional Practical Training (OPT, over 505,000 workers in FY2024) and H-4 spousal work permits expand the skilled workforce to about 1.28 million, roughly two-thirds of the U.S. software workforce.
- Wage protections are weak: the required prevailing wage is often set below market, and the $60,000 exemption for H-1B-dependent employers has not been adjusted for inflation since 1998, allowing widespread underpayment.
- Fraud and abuse are documented, including a 2008 audit finding 13.4% fraud, and recent lottery gaming reduction from 408,891 duplicate registrations to under 8,000 after a per-person rule was implemented.
- Major Indian IT firms (Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, HCL, Wipro) are the heaviest users, with documented settlements for visa fraud, below-market pay (47-64% less), and discrimination against non-Indian staff.
- The visa system fuels India's export-driven economy, with IT services exports of $224 billion and remittances of $129 billion, while a WTO dispute filed by India in 2016 remains frozen to protect its dominant share.
- The program creates winners (Indian IT firms, U.S. companies) and losers (American workers displaced, H-1B holders stuck in long green card queues), with some layoffs requiring employees to train their replacements.

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#immigration policy

Supreme Court upholds broad conception of birthright citizenship

New DHS rules limit foreign student visas to 4 years plus extensions

How did the H1B visa become the 'Indian' visa