US State Dept Plans to Gather Social Media Info & Email Addresses from Certain Visa Applicants of All Countries

by | May 8, 2017 | Articles

Openclipart, Stylized Eye

On May 4, 2017, the U.S. State Department proposed that the government now be able to request all social media information, email addresses and phone numbers of visa applicants from any and all countries, whom they choose to subject to additional scrutiny. Claiming an “emergency”, the US State Department provided less than two weeks for public comment, up to May 18, 2017. See 82 Fed.Reg. 84 (May 4, 2017).

In addition to requesting all social media information, email and phone numbers for the past five years, the US State Dept would also request information on all siblings, children, spouses, former spouses, and civil or domestic partners, and 15 years employment and residence history. The government would also request 15 years of the applicant’s travel history, including the source of funding for each trip, among other information.

The US State Department has provided the following information for those who want to comment on the proposed rule:

” • Email: oira_submission@ omb.eop.gov. You must include the DS form number (if applicable), information collection title, and OMB control number in the subject line of your message. • Fax: 202–395–5806. Attention: Desk Officer for Department of State. You may submit comments to Bureau of Consular Affairs, Visa Office by the following methods: • You may submit comments to Bureau of Consular Affairs, Visa Office by the following methods: • Web: Persons with access to the Internet may comment on this notice by going to www.Regulations.gov. You can search for the document by entering ‘‘Docket Number: DOS–2017–0019’’ in the Search field. Then click the ‘‘Comment Now’’ button and complete the comment form. • Email: PRA_BurdenComments@ state.gov. You must include Emergency Submission Comment on ‘‘Supplemental Questions for Visa Applicants’’ in the subject line of your comment.”

Opportunity to Comment on CBP's Collection of Social Media Info

by | May 2, 2017 | Articles

George Orwell, 1984 book covers

You have the opportunity to comment on US Custom and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) collection of social media information on Chinese citizens with 10-year B-1 or B-2 visas. All Chinese citizens with a 10-year B-1 or B-2 visa are now required to register with CBP through the Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS). The list of questions includes “optional” questions regarding an applicant’s social media accounts and use. CBP may extend the EVUS system to citizens of other countries as well.

You have up to May 30, 2017 to comment on the following: 1) whether collection of applicants’ social media information will have “practical utility”; 2) the estimated costs and burden to the federal government; 3) how to enhance the quality and usefulness of the information collected; and 4) ways to reduce the costs and burden of their procedures. Comments should be addressed to the OMB Desk Officer for Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, and sent via electronic mail to [email protected] or faxed to (202) 395–5806.

Millions of people coming to the U.S. from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries are already being asked to “volunteer” their social media information. Regarding the collection of social media information from VWP entrants, the ACLU commented in August 2017:

“The proposed expansion of the existing questionnaire would significantly increase the invasiveness of the information collected not only about foreign travelers, but also about their U. S. citizen social media contacts, and have a chilling effect on their communications. It would also increase the complexity of the visa waiver decision-making process…

The proposed change would collect social media identifiers from millions of individuals deemed least likely to have terrorist connections and would result in the collection of personal information on the tens of millions of social media contacts of those individuals, many of whom would be U. S. citizens or residents…”

This will make the decision to admit someone to the US highly subjective and subject to abusive behavior on the part of CBP officers, not to mention the enormous waste of resources on checking people’s Facebook and other social media accounts. People with B-1 or B-2 visas have already been subjected to extensive security checks and have been found not to be a security risk. As pointed out by Jeff John Roberts in Fortune on December 23, 2016, “would-be terrorists, even dim-witted ones, would be unlikely to disclose their social media profile to the U.S. government.”

President Trump's "Buy American and Hire American" EO Fosters Nativism, Although it Will Not Bring Immediate Change in the Law

by | Apr 22, 2017 | Articles

University of Maryland Eastern Shore

On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) entitled “Buy American and Hire American”, stating that it will be U.S. government policy to “rigorously enforce and administer the laws governing entry into the United States of workers from abroad”, as well as “to maximize…through terms and conditions of Federal financial assistance awards and Federal procurements, the use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States”. The EO is very short, and while it speaks in broad, sweeping terms, it does not provide any specifics of how this will be implemented. Instead, it requests federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security, to propose new federal rules to protect U.S. workers and to root out fraud and abuse in the immigration system. It specifically singles out the H-1B program and calls on federal agencies to “suggest reforms to help ensure that H–1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid petition beneficiaries.”

However, it does not create any immediate legal changes to the H-1B program or to other work visa categories. This would take time, as after making reports to the President, the federal agencies would have to go through the rule-making process whereby they would draft and publish new proposed rules, and allow the public time to respond before issuing a final rule. Or, Congress would have to pass a new law changing the process.

On the other hand, President Trump’s new EO contributes to the negative rhetoric targeted at immigrants, and fails to recognize the valuable contributions that immigrants make to our economy and to creating jobs for US workers. It fails to acknowledge that most H-1Bs are for foreign workers to fill positions for occupations for which there is a shortage of US workers. The federal government has already acknowledged that there is a shortage of American workers to fill positions in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields, and its legislation reflects that. It is better to have a highly-skilled foreign worker come to the US with his or her family to fill a position, than to have that job shipped overseas and out-sourced. Not only would the US lose jobs but also these well-paid foreign workers become US consumers, spending money at local businesses in the community and stimulating the economy. Employers are willing to spend huge amounts of money on USCIS filing fees and other expenses to bring foreign workers here because they just cannot find enough US workers with the appropriate skills.

President Trump’s short EO has certain phrases that have become a mantra among US government bureaucrats, inflaming prejudices against foreigners, and negatively affecting the exercise of discretion in USCIS examiners’ adjudication of cases. USCIS examiners have a great deal of leeway to approve or deny employment petitions on behalf of foreign workers, and with a negative mindset contrary to the facts and the needs of companies and the economy, government workers once again are being encouraged to deny meritorious cases, harming America’s chances of attracting the best and the brightest, and hobbling economic advancement.

USCIS Announces it Has Reached the FY 2018 H-1B Cap on April 7th, 2017

by | Apr 8, 2017 | Articles

This is the fifth straight year that the H-1B cap has been reached within the first few days of filing in April. The first day to file H-1B petitions for this fiscal year was April 3rd, 2017 and on April 7th, USCIS announced that it had received more than enough H-1B petitions for the 2018 fiscal year. The USCIS will conduct a lottery to decide which applications will get one of the 65,000 H-1B general visa numbers, and the 20,000 H-1B visa numbers for beneficiaries with US masters degrees.

New Travel Ban Exempts Iraqis, Permanent Residents, and Other Current Visa Holders. Important Legal Issues Remain.

by | Mar 6, 2017 | Articles

CBS Miami 03 24 2014

According to the DHS Fact Sheet, Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry To The United States issued March 5, 2017:

The new Executive Order imposes a 90-day suspension of entry to the United States of foreign nationals from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen who are outside the United States on the effective date of the order, March 16, 2017, do not currently have a valid visa on the effective date of this order, and did not have a valid visa at 5:00 eastern standard time on January 27, 2017, are not eligible to travel to the United States. The 90-day period is to allow a review and establishment of standards to prevent terrorist or criminal infiltration by foreign nationals.

Iraqi citizens are exempted from the new EO, as Iraq is to increase cooperation with the U.S. Government on the vetting of its citizens applying for visas.

In the first 20 days, DHS will perform a global, country-by-country review of the identity and security information that each country provides to the U.S. Government to support U.S. visa and other immigration benefit determinations. Countries will then have 50 days to comply with requests from the U.S. Government to update or improve the information they provide.

The Executive Order does not apply to lawful permanent residents; foreign nationals admitted to the United States after March 16, 2017; individuals with a document that is valid as of March 16, 2017 or after which permits travel to the US; dual nationals when traveling on a passport issued by a non-designated country; foreign nationals traveling on diplomatic, NATO, C-2 for travel to the United Nations, G-1, G-2, G-3, or G-4 visas; and individuals already granted asylum or refugee status in the United States before March 16, 2017.

The EO provides for the exercise of discretion, on a case-by-case basis, to issue visas or allow entry of nationals of these six countries into the United States upon proof that the denial of entry would cause undue hardship, that there is no threat to national security, and that his or her entry would be in the national interest.

The Refugee Admissions Program will be suspended for the next 120 days. Refugee admissions to the United States will not exceed 50,000 for fiscal year 2017. The EO does not apply to those refugees who have already been formally scheduled for transit by the State Department. During this 120-day period, similar to the waiver authority for visas, the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security may jointly determine to admit individuals to the United States as refugees on a case-by-case basis.