High Skilled

The enforcement of immigration laws is a complex and hotly-debated topic. Learn more about the costs of immigration enforcement and the ways in which the U.S. can enforce our immigration laws humanely and in a manner that ensures due process.

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All High Skilled Content

Publication Date: 
March 26, 2018
Temporary workers—such as those in H-1B status—typically can bring their spouses and children with them to the United States in what is called H-4 status. This fact sheet provides an overview of the...
Publication Date: 
December 14, 2017
This wage calculation is at the heart of the employment-based immigration system Congress devised to protect U.S. workers from unfair competition, while refraining from micromanaging the hiring...
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September 13, 2017
This fact sheet describes the legal avenues in the United States available to promising entrepreneurs, as well as some of the barriers they face securing immigration status through these paths.
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August 11, 2017
The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act (RAISE Act) or S. 354 would mark a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. immigration system. It would significantly reduce levels of legal...
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February 2, 2016
The Immigrant Investor Program, also known as “EB-5,” has become an increasingly important source of investment for development projects in the United States, attracting billions of dollars to the U...
Publication Date: 
December 14, 2015

Americans pride themselves on belonging to a nation of immigrants. In fact, many Americans celebrate not only the traditions of the United States, but the traditions of the countries from which...

Publication Date: 
May 13, 2013
How High-Skilled Immigrants Create Jobs and Help Build the U.S. Economy With the U.S. economy still recovering, it may seem counterintuitive to believe that any industry would benefit from having...
Publication Date: 
May 13, 2013
Innovation, Skilled Immigration, and H-1B Visas in U.S. Metropolitan Areas Although immigration policy is debated at the national level, its impact is most often felt in local and regional...
Publication Date: 
March 1, 2013
In the spirit of bipartisan immigration reform, a geographically diverse contingent from both chambers of Congress have introduced legislation to strengthen high-skilled immigration and spur economic...
Publication Date: 
March 4, 2012
With the U.S. economy in the midst of a prolonged slump, it’s hard to believe that any industry would actually benefit from having more workers. But that is precisely the case when it comes to those...
Publication Date: 
November 7, 2013
The Council and AILA filed an amicus brief in an en banc case pending before BALCA, an administrative body at the Department of Labor that reviews denials of PERM labor certifications. The case turned on the proper interpretation of a regulation which requires employers to notify certain laid-off U.S. employees about new job opportunities before the employers are permitted to hire foreign workers. The brief focused on the agency’s failure to provide fair warning before applying a new, more restrictive interpretation of the notification requirement.
On behalf of AILA, the American Immigration Council, in cooperation with counsel at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, filed a FOIA lawsuit against DHS and USCIS in July 2010 seeking the public release of records concerning agency policies and procedures related to fraud investigations in the H-1B program.

In May 2012, the American Immigration Council filed a FOIA request seeking records issued by USCIS and/or DHS, or used by USCIS and/or DHS, from January 2008 to the...

On behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Council, in cooperation with counsel at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, filed a FOIA lawsuit in July...

October 27, 2021

A recent class action settlement is expected to result in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approving more market research analyst H-1B petitions. The lawsuit was filed by four U.S...

May 26, 2021

Businesses and industry organizations are among those pushing back against a rule that would change eligibility for filing an H-1B petition. The new rule would require the H-1B lottery selection...

March 30, 2021

A ban blocking certain employment-based visas implemented and extended by former President Trump is set to expire on March 31. The ban has likely prevented hundreds of thousands of people from...

March 19, 2021

Employers and workers are starting to see a shift from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on unlawful restrictions of the H-1B specialty occupation visa category. Over the past nine...

February 5, 2021

Business immigration has already benefited from the change in administrations. On January 25, President Biden issued an executive order directly replacing a Trump-era executive order that wreaked...

January 14, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently issued a final rule changing the way U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) selects the registrations of U.S. employers that want to...

December 14, 2020

The development of a COVID-19 vaccine is a global endeavor. The scientists and entrepreneurs creating the vaccine are of many nationalities and immigration statuses—as are the millions of people...

December 2, 2020

On December 1, a federal district court judge disrupted the Trump administration’s relentless attack on legal immigration by halting two new sets of regulations. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and...

November 13, 2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued a proposed rule that will change the way it selects the registrations of U.S. employers that want to file H-1B petitions subject...

October 23, 2020

Three new lawsuits have been filed challenging the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new rules impacting the H-1B visa category, with one also challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new...

Publication Date: 
September 6, 2023
New research from the American Immigration Council shows that immigrants in Allen County paid over $160 million in taxes and exceeded $496.0 million in spending power in 2019. The new report, New...
August 29, 2023
In an annual review of the most successful companies in the United States, the American Immigration Council unveiled today (August 29, 2023) a report that sheds light on the contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs and their children to the U.S. economy.
A landscape of several tall buildings with a bridge in the foreground
Publication Date: 
August 29, 2023
See our updated web report on the largest American companies and their immigrant roots.
August 2, 2023

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), a major Apple supplier, has delayed the production schedule for its Arizona chip plant to 2025. The company said it is having trouble finding...

Publication Date: 
April 18, 2023
A new research series from the American Immigration Council, The Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers, highlights the crucial role immigrants are playing to help address critical workforce shortages...
Publication Date: 
March 9, 2023
This research brief highlights the crucial role immigrants in Nevada are playing to help address critical physician shortages.
Publication Date: 
February 16, 2023

New research from the American Immigration Council, Economic Benefits of the Empire State Licensing: Immigrants in New York State’s Workforce, highlights the crucial role of immigrants and...

Publication Date: 
September 21, 2022
To address significant shortages of physicians and other healthcare workers, Texas must establish policies that recruit and retain local talent and give employment possibilities for immigrant...
Publication Date: 
July 11, 2022

New research from the American Immigration Council, The Economic Contributions of Immigrants in Texas, highlights the crucial role of immigrants in the state’s workforce across the manufacturing,...

June 28, 2022

Demand for workers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) continues to grow in the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the country will...

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