Congress: AgJOBS, Guest Workers
The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003 (S 1645 and HR 3142), co-sponsored by US Senators Edward Kennedy, (D-MA) and

BCIS, BCBP, BICE
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) combined 22 federal agencies and 170,000 employees in an agency with a $36 billion a year budget, the

H-1B, L-1 Visas
There were 197,537 H-1B admissions in FY02, but not all of these admissions counted against the 195,000 annual ceiling on people coming in with

Polls, States
A July 13-27, 2003 New York Times/CBS News poll found foreign-born Hispanics optimistic about their future: 70 percent say they identify more

Poverty, Welfare, Labor
The number of poor Americans rose in 2002 to 34.6 million or 12.1 percent of US residents; the poverty rate among blacks was 24.1 percent. The

Mexico: Legalization, Elections, IDs
Mexican officials continue to call for the legalization of the unauthorized presence of Mexicans without visas in the US. Interior Minister

Canada: Immigration
Canada had 229,058 immigrants in 2002, down from 250,484 in 2001 and 227,346 in 2000. China is the number one source of immigrants to Canada.

Latin America
El Salvador. The US DHS in July 2003 announced that 290,000 Salvadorans in the US granted TPS after two earthquakes in January and February 2001

China, Hong Kong, Taiwan: Migrants
A New York Times article called China's 100 million migrants "untouchables," consigned to the worst jobs and assumed to be criminals in the

Southeast Asia
Thailand. Thailand granted 409,339 work permits to foreign workers in 2003, and the Labor Ministry asked that the permits be extended another

Japan, Korea
Japan's labor force peaked in 1998, and is projected to decline at an accelerating rate as the population falls from 128 million to 100 million

South Asia
According to Amnesty International, some 3.5 million Afghanis are outside their country, and 700,000 are Internally Displaced Persons inside the

EU: Asylum, Immigration, Guest Workers
With the rotation of the presidency of the EU Council of ministers, Italy's center-right prime minister Silvio Berlusconi assumed that position

Germany: Integration, Labor
The CDU-led Lower Saxony state government in July 2003 proposed that immigrants receiving welfare and unemployment benefits must learn German at

UK, Ireland: Migrants, Asylum
Migrants. A government report, "Prevention of Illegal Working," estimated in July 2003 that "several hundred thousand" migrants were working

France, Benelux, N. Europe
France has an estimated five to six million Muslims and 500,000 to 600,000 Jews, the largest number of both groups in Europe. Several

Southern Europe
Spain. Spanish police apprehended 600 illegal immigrants near the southern city of Tarifa in just five days. Most were North and sub-Saharan

Eastern Europe
Russia. The Interior Ministry in September 2003 estimated that there are five million foreigners with an unclear legal status in the country, and

Africa
South Africa. In a victory for Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South Africa's Constitutional Court in June 2003 upheld the new

Australia, New Zealand
Immigration to Australia is rising: net migration was 136,000 in 2000-01, and 134,000 in 2001-02. Net migration included, for 2000-2001, 80,600

Middle East
Some 10 million foreigners, most from Asia, are employed in the oil-exporting Gulf states. Most Gulf oil-exporting nations see importing labor

ILO, UN Migrant Conventions
There were an estimated 175 million migrants in 2000, persons outside their country of birth or citizenship for 12 months or more, including 56

Global Trends
The Swiss government is pushing for a new dialogue between developing and developed countries, the Berne Initiative, which is based on viewing