The Board of Immigration Appeals is reportedly laying off five judges as part of a downsizing effort being pushed by Attorney General John Ashcroft. The judges affected are Espenoza, Guendelsberger, Schmidt, Villageliu and Brennan.

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The Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that supports dramatically reduced immigration to the US, has issued a report criticizing the non-immigrant visa policies of the US. The report, entitled "Shortcuts to Immigration: The 'Temporary' Visa Program is Broken" was written by Jessica Vaughan and notes the following major findings:

1. The number of temporary admissions has more than tripled since 1985, from 9.5 million to 32.8 million, and the number of non-immigrant visa (NIV) issuances has risen by 30 percent over the same period, even with the adoption of the Visa Waiver Program.

2. The most dramatic growth has been in employment-related categories. In 2001, more than 715,000 foreigners were issued employment NIVs. Another 110,000 non-immigrants received permission to work after arrival.

3. A significant share of “non-immigrants” more accurately should be called “pre-immigrants”, though their route to permanent residency is far less controlled than in the standard immigrant visa program. Nearly one-half of the “temporary” categories allow for applicants to have immigrant intent. In 2001, more than 228,000 NIV holders received green cards.

4. In 2001, the United States issued 1.2 million long-term NIVs, an even higher number than were issued green cards (1.1 million). In some categories, their stay may be virtually unlimited.

While pro-immigration groups would argue that these numbers are a sign of a robust economy that needs to recruit workers from around the globe and also that the US remains the world's top tourist destination, the CIS believes that the non-immigrant visa program provides an entry option for terrorists and illegal immigrants.