Reported in Computerworld

USCIS officials are taking H-1B enforcement from the desk to the field with a plan to conduct 25,000 on-site inspections of companies hiring foreign workers over this fiscal year.

The move marks a nearly five-fold increase in inspections over last fiscal year, when the agency conducted 5,191 site visits under a new site inspection program. The new federal fiscal year began Oct. 1.

Tougher enforcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services comes in response to a study conducted by the agency last year that found fraud and other violations in one-in-five H-1B applications.

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Alejandro Mayorkas, director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the agency began a site visit and verification program in July to check on the validity of H-1B applications. Mayorkas’ letter was released on Tuesday by Grassley.

“The inspection program determines] whether the location of employment actually exists and if a beneficiary is employed at the location specified, performing the duties as described, and paid the salary as identified in the petition,” said Mayorkas in his letter to Grassley.

…As part of its enforcement effort, Mayorkas said the Citizenship and Immigration Services has hired Dunn and Bradstreet Inc., which provides credit reports among other services, to act as “an independent information provider” and help verify information submitted by companies hiring H-1B workers.

Links to other related articles:

ICE Asst. Secretary Announces 1,000 New Workplace Audits

Anger up, Visas Down

Tech workers take H-1B case to supreme court

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Reviews:  The inspection process, what does the law say, what can I expect to happen at a US port of entry and more….

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The Washington Times reported today that on the thorniest of political issues, Obama has embraced the enforcement-first position on immigration that he criticized during last year’s campaign.  He’s now saying that he can’t move forward with the type of comprehensive bill he wants until the voters are convinced that the borders can be enforced.

We quote:  “If the American people don’t feel like you can secure the borders then it’s hard to strike a deal that would get people out of the shadows and on a pathway to citizenship who are already here, because the attitude of the average American is going to be….Well, you’re just going to have hundreds of thousands of more coming in each year.”

…Music to our ears to hear Obama state on his 100th day in office that he was moving “full steam ahead on all fronts” on immigration reform.  He told Telemundo reporter that he hopes to convene working groups to start building a framework for how immigration legislation might be shaped.  He further stated yesterday that Congress and DHS are aligning their priorities to focus on the root causes of undocumented immigration.  Obama stated at his 100th day news conference yesterday:

“We want to move this process.  We can’t continue with a broken immigration system.  It’s not good for anybody.  It’s not good for American workers.  It’s dangerous for Mexican would-be workers to cross a dangerous border.”

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