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Bloomberg reports that the number of Hispanics with doctorates jumped 161 percent from 1990 to 2010, almost double the non-Hispanic rate of 90 percent, according to U.S. Census data. Since 2000, Latinos and Asians have driven the growth among young adults going to college. Many Latino students credit their teachers and advisers for steering them toward higher education and helping them find fellowships and scholarships. While, white students seeking Ph.D.s at Berkeley still outnumber Hispanics almost 7 to 1, there is a 46 percent increase among Latino students pursuing doctoral degrees in comparison to the 25 percent decrease among white doctoral students. Although Lisa Garcia Bedolla, chairwoman of the Center for Latino Policy Research at Berkeley, attributes the Hispanic increase to a combination of population growth and an increase in the pool of students available to consider getting a Ph.D., she states that the actual number is still not tremendously large. "Whites are still way overrepresented in higher education, more so than any other group."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-24/hispanic-ph-d-s-jump-as-fastest-growing-minority-gains.html
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The National Journal reports that the Northeastern United States accounts for 16.3 percent of the H-1B worker visas, the majority of the demand. Northeastern states, such as New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have the greatest need for super-skilled workers in science, engineering, and health care fields. In addition, the top four metropolitan areas, each with 14,000 to 18,000 H-1B visa worker requests, are Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, CA, and the greater Washington, D.C., area. Recently, the Senate Judiciary Committee made it easier for highly educated temporary workers to obtain visas, especially from China and India. As a result, the 85,000 H-1B visa cap this year was met three times faster than that of last year. A full report is available at http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2012/07/18-h1b-visas-labor-immigration#overview
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The International Herald Tribune reports that the State Department has processed more than 1 million visas in China this year, a 43 percent increase over the first six months of fiscal 2011. Since 2004, the number has increased 438 percent. U.S. consular offices in Mexico also process more than 1 million visa applications each year and Mexico has shown a 36 percent increase, this year. In addition, visa applications this year are up 44 percent in Brazil. The White House said the increasing number of tourists is due, in part, to the Travel Promotion Act passed in 2010. It established a tourism marketing and promotional fund, financed through a $10 fee on each new visa.
About 1.2 million mainland Chinese visited the United States last year, according to Chinese government statistics and the number is expected to reach 2 million by 2015. The main purpose of Chinese visits to the United States in 2001, according to the Commerce Department, was for business (30 percent), vacation (27 percent), visiting relatives (24 percent) and study (3 percent).
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/chinese-lining-up-in-record-numbers-to-visit-the-u-s/
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The Texas Attorney General's Office has frozen the assets of an Austin-based group that broke state laws by promising to provide immigration services to clients. Just for People director Elizabeth Gabriella "Gabby" Paneque and her affiliates cheated their clients by providing unauthorized legal advice, document preparation and other services in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). State investigators found that none of the defendants are attorneys or accredited by the federal Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) as required by law. In addition, Just for People, Inc., and its affiliate, Lead God, are not registered nonprofit organizations permitted to provide immigration services or representation.
Attorney general's officials have identified at least 23 people who paid Just for People. One paid the defendants $11,000 for immigration assistance and received nothing; another paid them $6,800 for a visa he did not receive. In one case, Just for People received a sum of $50,000 to bring an extended family into the U.S. When customers inquired about the status of immigration cases, Paneque "became very insulting and aggressive" and threatened clients with deportation. The State's enforcement action further asserts that Paneque and her affiliates primarily targeted Spanish-speaking customers in the Austin-area.
Paneque's affiliates include Frank Alarcon Marimon, Luz L. Guerrero, and Ayan Mohamed Ismail. Paneque also goes by the aliases Gabrielle Gatjnes and Nilda Odalys Paneque.
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Fox News Latino reports that the Florida Board of Bar Examiners says undocumented immigrant, Jose Godinez-Samperio, qualifies for a law license but the state bar is asking the state Supreme Court for an advisory opinion before make a final decision. The board initially denied Godinez-Samperio admittance to the bar but asked the justices to decide whether an illegal immigrant disqualifies applicants. Previously, Godinez-Samperio filed a motion with the state Supreme Court, stating that the Obama administration's "deferred action" policy makes him eligible for a Florida law license. President Obama announced in June that illegal immigrants no older than 30, who arrived in the United States as children, have no criminal history, and have high school degrees or military service could stay and work in the U.S. The motion, filed by Godinez-Samperio's attorney Talbot D'Alemberte, asked the court to order the Florida Board of Examiners to either conclude its investigation into Godinez-Samperio's application or admit him.
The board acknowledged, in a separate filing, that the Obama administration's new policy is relevant but asserts that D'Alemberte violated a court rule by including in his motion an order directing the board to conclude its investigation. The board says that request is now arguable because of the new findings it has filed.
Godinez-Samperio's parents brought him to the U.S. from Mexico on a visitor's visa when he was 9. His parents overstayed their visas and never returned to Mexico. Godinez-Samperio, now 25, grew up in Hillsborough County in Florida, graduated from Florida's New college, earned a law degree from Florida State and passed the bar exam.
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The San Antonio Express News reports that the federal government has paid around $1 million for 8.31 acres of land cutting across the northern edge of the Nature Conservancy's Southmost Preserve. The preserve is home to one of the only two large stands of native Mexican sabal palms remaining in the country. According to Laura Huffman, the state director for the Nature Conservancy, the settlement represents an agreement on compensation for the land the land that was used for the construction of the controversial border fence. Hoffman states that the agreement does not represent the conservation losses experienced. The Conservancy purchased the 1,034 acre tract for $2.6 million in 1999 but estimates its total acquisition cost to be about $3.1 million, not counting hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in equipment, stewardship, staff and outreach. Huffman says that the border fence has fragmented the preserve and that fragmentation of heritage ranches and landscapes throughout Texas is one of the biggest issues the Conservancy faces today.
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The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reports that the Partnership for a New American Economy released a report showing that immigrants start more than one in four new businesses in the United States, and are more than twice as likely to start a company than people who are born here. The report found that immigrant businesses collectively generated more than $775 billion in revenue in 2011 and employ one out of every 10 people working for private companies. According to CNBC.com, the largest group of immigrant business owners are in the professional and business service (141,000), retail and construction (120,000 owners for each) followed by educational and social services and leisure and hospitality (each sector with 100,000). The specific types of businesses most owned by immigrants are restaurants, real estate firms, grocery stores and physician's offices. In addition, the income of immigrant owned business has grown by more than 60 percent over the past 10 years, while income from businesses owned by American-born people has grown only by 14.4 percent. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a co-chairman of the partnership, used the report's data to call on Republicans and Democrats to tackle the topic of immigration reform during this summer and fall's election campaign. For the full report visit http://www.renewoureconomy.org/sites/all/themes/pnae/openforbusiness.pdf
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/blog/2012/08/immigrants-twice-as-likely-to-start.html
http://www.cnbc.com/id/48646997/How_Immigrants_Are_Changing_US_Businesses
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The Arizona Daily Star reports that a discrimination lawsuit in Washington, D.C. has forced Suzanne Barr, chief of staff for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to take leave pending the outcome of review by the DHS Office of Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility. The federal lawsuit, filed by James Hayes, Jr., alleges that Napolitano hired Schriro as a "special advisor" and had her gradually take over his position as director of detention and removal operations for ICE. Additionally, Hayes made detailed accusations against Barr, alleging harassment. Hayes' lawyer has sent affidavits to the federal government's lawyers, detailing the alleged harassment and several news outlets reported seeing the affidavits, including one story of Barr soliciting a male employee while at an embassy party in Bogotá, Colombia. Brian Hale, a Homeland Security spokesman, called the lawsuit unfounded and stated that the allegations are being made in connection with ongoing litigation. Hale stated, "ICE will respond directly and strongly to this lawsuit in court as is appropriate."
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