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"Megyn Kelly asked about highly-skilled immigration. The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay. I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements. I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions."

Donald Trump on Thursday night said he's changing his stance on visas for highly skilled immigrant workers. "I’m changing it, and I’m softening the position because we need to have talented people in this country," Trump said at the Fox News GOP debate in Michigan. Trump's comments came after debate moderator Megyn Kelly raised the issue. Kelly noted that Trump had previously opposed those visas, saying they "decimate American workers," but appeared to change his position at an earlier CNBC debate. Trump said recipients of the visas go to high-profile U.S. universities and "desperately" want to remain in the country....

Donald Trump has soared to new political heights by taking up the plight of the blue-collar American worker, but does Trump put his money where his mouth is? The New York Times tries to undermine that narrative with a peek inside the Trump empire, specifically the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which employs hundreds of workers at the height of the “season.” Most of those workers come from abroad, the NYT reports, while Americans don’t appear to get much access to those jobs: Since 2010, nearly 300 United States residents have applied or been referred for jobs as waiters, waitresses,...

Donald J. Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach describes itself as "one of the most highly regarded private clubs in the world..." Since 2010, nearly 300 United States residents have applied or been referred for jobs as waiters, waitresses, cooks and housekeepers there. But according to federal records, only 17 have been hired. In all but a handful of cases, Mar-a-Lago sought to fill the jobs with hundreds of foreign guest workers from Romania and other countries.... So what's Trump's excuse? That's he's a businessman and that these are the realities on the ground? That, I'm afraid, won't wash. When...

The Obama administration is "blatantly breaking the law" with its implementation of the new Visa waiver program, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) argue. The terror attacks in Paris urged lawmakers to launch a bipartisan effort to strengthen the program. McCaul and Miller, along with other members of Congress, asked the White House to consider a national security and law enforcement waiver only for certain individuals intending to enter the country. They made this clear in their proposed Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, which passed 409 to 21. Instead, the...

The United States on Thursday began enforcing new visa rules on some travelers who have visited or who have dual nationality with states considered seedbeds of terrorism, AFP reports. The Department of Homeland Security said would-be visitors to the United States who have been to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria since March 2011 will now always have to apply for a visa. This will be the case even if the traveler is from a country in the U.S. visa waiver program -- the 40 nations seen as friends of America whose citizens can visit freely. .....

On Wednesday, Senate Democrats successfully and predictably blocked what many conservatives described as Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) 56% 's "Show Vote'"on refugee admissions. It has been called a show vote because the Ryan plan, even if the President signed it, would still allow the President to bring in an unlimited number of refugees from an unlimited number of countries. Democrats' filibuster on the motion to proceed to Ryan's show vote comes one month after Speaker Ryan sent President Obama a blank check to fund visa issuances to nearly 300,000 (temporary and permanent) Muslim migrants in the next 12 months alone....

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-21/iran-nuclear-deal-restricts-u-s-more-than-congress-knew Link only, per FR Rules. Essentially Dear Leader is going to run around Congress and grant visa waivers to Iran.

Link only: http://www.khou.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/12/20/foreign-teachers-flock-mississippi-teaching-jobs/77672386/

With the Syrian (so-called) refugee crisis ubiquitous in the headlines, the media has found itself dealing with immigration issues on a daily basis. Unfortunately, extreme confusion abounds. The media's total inability to draw basic distinctions regarding immigration to the United States, both legal and illegal is harming the public's ability to digest this important topic. Immigration terms are being thrown around print media, radio, and television that have no relation to the real facts or existing laws. The following is the dummy's guide to some of the most important distinctions regarding legal and illegal immigration to the United States. It...

Never mind the secret and mysterious government watchlists: The government could and should be sending its list of people who overstay their visas to federally licensed firearms dealers, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) told two Obama administration officials on Thursday. Speaking at a hearing on foreign travelers and national security, Gowdy said three groups of people currently are barred by law from purchasing or possessing a firearms, including people in the country without permission; people who overstay their visas; and even, in most cases, people who are here on a valid visa. "Are those lists made available to federally licensed firearms...

<p>The House passed Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, negotiated with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) A majority of House Republicans voted for the measure, which fully funds Obama's refugee resettlement operation, all Mideast immigration programs, Sanctuary Cities, Obama's continued executive amnesty for DREAMers, and the resettlement of illegal aliens within the U.S. interior.</p>

Don't know the whereabouts of those kicked out over security. Thousands of people - more than 100,000 in fact - have had their visas revoked since 2001, but that doesn't mean the Obama administration knows where those people are, reports Fox News: The Obama administration cannot be sure of the whereabouts of thousands of foreigners in the U.S. who had their visas revoked over terror concerns and other reasons, a State Department official acknowledged Thursday. The shocking revelation came during a Congressional hearing into the vetting process for immigrants and those seeking visas to enter the United States. "You don't...

The Obama administration cannot be sure of the whereabouts of thousands of foreigners in the U.S. who had their visas revoked over terror concerns and other reasons, a State Department official acknowledged Thursday. The admission, made at a House oversight hearing examining immigrant vetting in the wake of major terror attacks, drew a sharp rebuke from the committee chairman. “You don’t have a clue do you?” Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told Michele Thoren Bond, assistant secretary for the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Bond initially said the U.S. has revoked more than 122,000 visas since 2001, including 9,500 because of the...

The Department of Homeland Security has operated a program to monitor ordinary Americans' social media discussions about the agency's policy directives, even though it had in place another policy prohibiting agents from checking visa applicants' social media accounts for possible signs of terrorist leanings. The agency's policy against vetting visa applicants was revealed on Monday by John Cohen, a former DHS under-secretary for intelligence and analysis. Now an intelligence analyst at ABC News, Cohen says that last year, DHS Sec. Jeh Johnson resisted changing the agency's policy against viewing visa applicants' social media accounts as part of the screening process...

What if Homeland Security has a 95% failure rate in screening jihadi brides? We reported dive crews were searching a lake in San Bernardino for evidence related to the terror attack that left 14 Americans dead.It appears that investigators may have located some: Divers recovered items from a lake in San Bernardino, Calif., where a couple who killed 14 at a nearby regional center Dec. 2 possibly dumped evidence on the day of their shooting spree, according to various media accounts,…Divers began searching the lake Thursday, and some items were recovered before the search concluded Saturday, but the FBI did not reveal...

DHS official Kelli Ann Burriesci grilled by House Oversight Committee

UPDATE: It gets worse. ABC News is reporting that Homeland Security officials have been bound by a secret US policy not to scrutinize visa applicants' social media footprint because the Obama administration feared bad press over "civil liberties." This represents an stunning, intentional dereliction of duty -- all for PR: Fearing a civil liberties backlash and "bad public relations" for the Obama administration, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson refused in early 2014 to end a secret U.S. policy that prohibited immigration officials from reviewing the social media messages of all foreign citizens applying for U.S. visas, a former senior department official...

Last week, the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on the terrorism and visa waiver programs. Department of Homeland Security's Deputy Assistant Secretary Kelli Ann Burriesci was asked to testify. Her testimony can be found here. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) ripped into her for giving scarce and I'm being generous with that term details on what process is offered to American citizens before they're added on the terrorism watch list for mere suspicion, not conviction, of being terrorists. "What process is afforded a U.S. citizen, not someone who has overstayed a visa, not someone who crossed the border without permission, but an...

By Don Melvin CNN Geneva prosecutor: 2 terror suspects Syrian Suspects arrested on suspicion of manufacture, concealment, transport of explosives and toxic gases UPDATED 1:55 PM EST Dec 12, 2015 (CNN) Swiss police have arrested two people with Syrian passports and found traces of potential bomb-making chemicals in a car as security remains high around Geneva amid a terrorism alert and a hunt for suspects, authorities said Saturday. Authorities have been looking for at least two people with indirect links to suspects in the November 13 Paris terrorist attacks. It was not immediately clear whether Saturday's arrests were linked to...