The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would adjust the fees for certain immigration benefits.  Application fees on many applications would be raised about $55 to $65 per application and the biometric fees would increase by about $20.  The Department has proposed this fee increase in order to ensure the full recovery of the costs of providing adjudication and naturalization services, among other services, so that asylum applicants and other immigrants can file their applications without being charged.

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In a joint report titled “Knocking at the College Door,” the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, ACT and the College Board predicted that US colleges will see an increase in Hispanic and Asian students within the next ten years.  The report also projects that half the high-school graduating class of 2014 will be made up of minority students.

The report is published every five years, using data collected by college admissions test-makers, census data and immigration data.

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has opened the door for more individuals to apply for political asylum due to its ruling in the case of Xu Ming Li.  The court ruled that Li, a Chinese national, who suffered through a rape-like gynecological exam, did meet the Congressional definition of persecution.  Before the court’s ruling, no federal appellate court had addressed the issue of immigrants persecuted for “other resistance to a coercive population control program.”  Congress annually grants asylum to 1000 victims of forced abortion and sterilization.

In the early 1990s, while still in China, Li was forcibly taken to a birth control office and given an aggressive gynecological exam to see if she was pregnant.  Officials also threatened to have Li’s boyfriend sterilized.  China has a one-child per couple policy in an effort to limit the country’s expanding population.

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The State Department and Department of Homeland Security are lobbying lawmakers to loosen a requirement in the 2001 Border Security Act.  The immigration law requires 27 countries to issue passports with biometric data to their citizens that travel to the U.S.   Citizens from countries that do not meet the deadline must go through the formal US visa application process.  The deadline for compliance is October 26, 2004.

According to Maura Harty, the assistant secretary of consular affairs, only two countries have the capabilities to meet the deadline.  It is estimated that this could create an additional 5 million visa applications.  Without an extension or change in the law, consular offices will have to hire and train hundreds of additional officers.

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The Department of Homeland Security submitted its spending plan for a new immigration program for the 2004 year to Congress on Tuesday.

The plan details how it will spend $330 million on the US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US VISIT) program.  The House and Senate homeland security appropriations subcommittees have 45 days to approve the plan. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has requested $25 million from Congress while they review the program in order to lessen program and schedule delays.

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US Technology workers will be trained for jobs currently held by temporary H-1B visa holders, thanks to a $2.9 million grant from the Department of Labor to the San Francisco Bay Area Council.  The program will help 759 Bay Area workers improve and update their skills with funds that came from fees paid by employers hiring foreign workers using the temporary work visa.  The purpose of the program is to prepare US workers in the Bay Area for a change in the country’s economy and by doing so, the organization predicts that the demand for H-1B visas will decrease.

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An amendment has been added to the civil rights suit filed by Mexican immigrants against Wal-Mart stores Inc. that includes plaintiffs from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.  The amendment also includes accusations that the company would lock its janitors inside stores during their shifts.  Lawyers for the plaintiffs have said more than 100 people have signed onto the suit, while Wal-Mart’s attorneys are denying the allegations.

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Restaurant association officials are responding positively to Bush’s proposed immigration reform plan, saying it could solve the worker shortage that many foodservice operators already are facing in some parts of the country and is expected to grow even more severe in the future.  Because ascertaining legal status of an employee is a huge problem, restaurant industry officials are enthusiastic that Bush’s proposal would assist restaurateurs verify the status of immigrant workers being interviewed for jobs.  While the restaurant industry as a whole supports the intentions of the Bush plan, hospitality operators are waiting for more specific details to surface.