Cuba: Elian Gonzalez
On April 22, 2000, INS officials took six-year old Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' Miami home and flew him to Washington, DC, where he was

INS: Border, Detention
The INS has been returning to Agua Prieta, Mexico over 1,000 migrants a day who were apprehended just inside the US border in Arizona. Many of those

Congress: H-1B
H-1B. As the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act, which would raise the number of H-1B visas from 115,000 a year to 195,000 a

Polls and Politics
Public opinion on immigration has become more favorable. A 1999 Gallup poll found that 44 percent of respondents wanted to reduce immigration, down

Mexico: NAFTA and Jobs
Mexico is holding elections on July 2, 2000 for the national presidency, the 500-member House of Representatives, the 128-member Senate, two state

Canada: New Law
The proposed Immigration and Refugee Protection Act would impose fines of up to C$1 million and life in prison for traffickers who are involved in

State Briefs
California. Ron Prince, who co-authored Proposition 187, approved by California voters 59 to 41 percent in 1994, has abandoned plans to put a

Labor: Janitors, Sanctions
Several thousand of the 8,500 janitors represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 1877 went on strike against 18 cleaning

Japan: Ishihara Reactions
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, co-author of "A Japan That Can Say No," in April 2000 asked Japanese Self-Defense Forces to be prepared to help

China, Macao and Hong Kong
China's economy grew seven percent in 1999 to $1 trillion and is expected to expand by seven percent in 2000. Nonetheless, the number of labor

North and South Korea
South Korea. The South Korean Justice Ministry said that it would crack down on illegal residents in April 2000, since some unauthorized

Singapore: IT Industry
Singapore is searching for ways to keep up with the demand for skilled IT workers. The current IT and communications work force is about 93,000, but

Malaysia: Foreign Workers
The Malaysian National Security Council was asked to develop plans to reduce illegal immigration, especially in Sabah, where there are an estimated

Philippines: Overseas Filipinos
Philippine President Joseph Estrada has ordered a far more aggressive effort to protect the rights of Filipinos based abroad, in part by joining a

Germany: "Green Cards"
Germany continued to debate whether to offer what officials referred to as "green cards" to foreign computer specialists; most observers predicted

UK, Ireland: New Asylum Rules
The 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act (IAA) went into effect on April 1, 2000. Its major provisions include the substitution of vouchers for cash

Benelux Asylum and Jobs
Netherlands. The Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics reported in February 2000 that 76 percent of those polled want fewer asylum-seekers to be

Southern Europe
Italy. The government of Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema resigned after suffering a defeat in local elections at the hands of the

Eastern Europe
Czech Republic. On February 2, 2000, the Czech government announced that to harmonize Czech visa policy with EU policies, citizens of Russia,

Africa: Unauthorized Foreigners
South Africa. South African police arrested more than 8,000 unauthorized foreigners in March 2000 in an effort to reduce crime attributed to

Australia
Australia is increasing its immigration intake in 2000-01 by 15,000, providing an extra 5,000 slots for professionals with training in information

Israel: Law of Return
About one million persons emigrated from the ex-USSR to Israel between 1989 and 1999, including 200,000 who were not halakhically Jewish because

Middle East
Saudi Arabia. Some 1.3 million pilgrims made the trip to Mecca in 2000, and Saudi Arabia took steps to ensure that they did not remain as

Global Trends
The world's population reached six billion in 1999, and is projected to be about nine billion in 2050. World GDP, about $27 trillion in 1996, is

Population and Power
Geoffrey McNicoll argues that the size of each nation-state's population currently plays little role in the international system--formal relations