Immigration News: April, 2004 - Volume #11

THE AMERICAS

Bush and Guest Workers

President Bush's proposal to allow US employers to legalize their unauthorized workers, and to easily obtain additional foreign workers, generated

Border, Services

The US government continues to step up controls on the Arizona-Mexico border, the scene of increased migrant smuggling and violence. The Border

Census, Welfare, California, New York City

The US Census Bureau released new projections that foresee the number of US residents rising from 282 million in 2000 to 420 million in 2050. In

Labor: Outsourcing H-1B, L-1

The US had an eight-month recession between March and November 2001, but there has been little employment growth despite resumed economic growth.

Labor: H-1B, H-2B, L-1

There is an annual limit of 65,000 H-1B visas (those issued to foreigners on behalf of universities and nonprofit organizations are exempt), and it

Mexico: Returns, Politics, Death Row

In February 2004, Mexico and the US agreed that Mexicans apprehended in the US just inside the border could volunteer to be returned to their

Latin America

The Inter-American Development Bank reported that remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean totaled $38 billion in 2003, up from $32 billion in

ASIA

China: Migrants, Agriculture

China is a fragmented society, with a gulf between inland agricultural provinces and coastal provinces that produce manufactured goods for export. A

Japan, Korea

Japan achieved its goal of raising the number of foreign students from 10,000 in 1983 to 100,000 in 2003- there were 109,508 in 2003, up from 10,428

Thailand: New Migrant Policies

Thailand is decentralizing its guest worker policies. As migrants moved into Thailand from its poorer neighbors, Burma, Cambodia and Laos, the

Indonesia, Philippines, India

Indonesia sent 480,393 migrants abroad via legal channels in 2003. The government is under pressure to do more to protect Indonesian women who

EUROPE

EU: Enlargement, Asylum

Enlargement. The EU will grow from 15 to 25 countries on May 1, 2004, as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia,

Germany: Labor

The number of ethnic Germans born abroad who moved to Germany dropped from 90,000 in 2002 to 72,000 in 2003. Ethnic German arrivals peaked at

Austria, Slovak Republic

Austria is a country of 8.1 million with a $24,000 per capita GDP; the Slovak Republic has 5.4 million residents and a $4,000 per capita GDP. After

UK: Gangmasters, Ireland

To prevent "benefits abuse," the UK announced that Eastern Europeans would not need work permits to seek employment in the UK after May 1, 2004, but

France, Benelux, Scandinavia

The French National Assembly voted 494-36 (with 31 abstentions) to ban head scarves in public schools in February 2004, implementing a recommendation

Spain, Italy

Spain. Some 202 people were killed and 1,700 wounded in March 2004 when suspected Islamic terrorists- Moroccans living in Spain- detonated a series

Russia, Moldova

President Vladimir Putin in January 2004 said that Russia "is in need of inflow of migrants [but] order should be established" in managing migration.

OTHER

Australia, New Zealand, Oceania

The Australian government announced that it will increase the number of skilled migrants by 5,000 and create an additional 1,000 spots for doctors

Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iraq

Saudi Arabia continues to plan for a future with fewer foreigners, currently seven million or a third of residents; the goal is to reduce their

Africa

Libya. During the 1990s, in the name of African unity, Libya opened its borders to thousands of sub-Saharan African workers. Resentment against the

Huntington on Immigration

Harvard political scientist Samuel P. Huntington in the 1990s developed a "clash of civilizations" theory under which future international conflicts

Global Trends

There are an estimated 80 million migrant workers (derived by applying labor force participation rates to UN estimates of migrants by country),

ILO Commission on Migrants

The ILO's World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization (www.ilo.org) released its report in February 2004, "A Fair Globalization: