The New York Times article on why immigrants grow the U.S. economy.

In an opinion piece appearing in the Houston Business Journal, the Business Journals' Washington Bureau Chief discusses why he believes that IT companies' recent push for increased H-1B numbers will likely fail.

Tonight, President Obama stated in an address to the nation that he would use his executive authority to deal with problems in our broken immigration system.

At the annual conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) in June, the U.S. Department of Labor released statistics about the Labor Certification applications in process and Labor Condition Applications filed in preparation for submitting H-1B petitions. Interesting points include:

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification released its latest statistics regarding the Permanent Labor Certification (commonly called "PERM" or "Labor Certification") Program for the Fiscal Year 2014. So far, the Department of Labor (DOL) has received 53,325 applications, a 15% increase from last year. Of the 53,325 applications received, 47,257 have been certified, 3,618 denied, and 2,981 withdrawn. Among the certified applications, the top 5 occupation categories were Computer and Mathematical (56%), Architecture and Engineering (12%), Management (8%), Business and Financial Operations (7%), and Education, Training, and Library (5%); the top 5 work site States are California (24%), Texas (10%), New York (8%), New Jersey (7%), and Washington (7%); and the top 5 countries of citizenship are India (56%), China (7%), Canada (5%), South Korea (5%), and Philippines (3%). The vast majority of Beneficiaries of certified Labor Certifications are in H-1B status (83%), with L-1s coming in second at 5%. Finally, it is worth noting that 55% of the certified PERM applications required an Advanced Degree and 38% required a Bachelor’s degree. Only 2% of these applications required less than a Bachelor’s degree. Click here for the full report.

In a blog posted in the Economics section of the Wall Street Journal detailed the contents of a report by the National Foundation for American Policy, a research group, arguing that immigrant contributions have increased since the 1960s, when restrictions on immigration were lifted and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was passed. From 1960-2013, Nobel Prizes were awarded to three times more immigrants to the United States than were from 1901-1959. The report also noted foreign nationals' increased enrollment in graduate-level STEM degree programs. The report also notes that between 2006 and 2012, 92 companies with venture backing that became publicly traded had at least one immigrant founder, including Google, eBay, LinkedIn and Tesla Motors.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2014/06/06/dearth-of-work-visas-slow-houstons-tech-scene.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2014-06-06&u=6U0sa9rpGlKjfcrt24NWjA0aa2ddf0&t=1402085706&page=all