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International travel to the United States took a significant hit after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, research shows. Efforts to reverse this trend culminated in Senate approval last week of the Travel Promotion Act, which President Obama is expected to sign today. The measure provides close to $200 million annually to create a national agency - the Corporation for Travel Promotion - modeled after successful tourism-advancement organizations in this country and in other developed nations.

<p>LAS VEGAS (AP) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hopes to pass a bill by next week to create a federal agency to promote tourism to the United States.</p> <p>Reid says Republican Sens. John Ensign of Nevada, Johnny Isakson of Georgia and George LeMieux of Florida have agreed to support the bill, but he acknowledged he needs more GOP support for the Travel Promotion Act.</p>

Note: Contact info deleted by me. # Note: The following text is a quote: Secretary Napolitano Designates 11 New Countries as Eligible for H-2a and H-2b Nonimmigrant Visa Programs Release Date: January 22, 2010 For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano this week designated 11 new countries as eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant visa programs, which allow U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary or seasonal jobs for which U.S. workers are not available. The 11 newly designated countries—Croatia, Ecuador, Ethiopia,...

After a series of successful and unsuccessful jihad attacks across this great nation, on Christmas Day, the crotch-bomber attempted to explode a bomb hidden in his underwear while landing in Detroit on Northwest Flight 253. And so after months of ignoring the jihad against America and pretending that nothing was happening, Barack Obama sprang into action -- with useless, toothless reform. In the wake of the Christmas Day bomber's attempted attack, the U.S. Visas Viper terrorist reporting program criteria have been broadened. The Visas Viper program is used by the Department of State and other national agencies to place on...

- The Homeland Security Department rather than the State Department should handle U.S. visas overseas to meet security threats, the chairman of the Senate homeland security committee said on Sunday. Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman raised the idea during a discussion on ABCs "This Week" of the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound plane on Dec 25. "I believe, incidentally, that we ought to take a look at taking the visa application and admission responsibility from the State Department. It doesn't really fit with foreign policy anymore," he said. "And in an age of terrorism, I think the Department of Homeland Security...

In the wake of the botched Christmas Day terror attack, members of Congress are worried that extremists could use the State Department's diversity visa lottery as a means of getting to the U.S. The State Department is planning to welcome thousands of immigrants from terror-watch list countries into the United States this year through a "diversity visa" lottery -- a giant legal loophole some lawmakers say is a "serious national security threat" that has gone unchecked for years. Ostensibly designed to increase ethnic diversity among immigrants, the program invites in thousands of poorly educated laborers with few job skills --...

(CNSNews.com) –The State Department has awarded 1,011 special “diversity visas” allowing Yemeni nationals to immigrate to the United States since 2000, the year 17 U.S. sailors were killed when the U.S.S. Cole was attacked by terrorists in the Yemeni port of Aden. The "diversity visas" are designed to encourage immigration from countries that do not otherwise send significant numbers of immigrants to the United States. The State Department roster of all countries whose nationals have received "diversity visas" to immigrate to the United States in 2010, for example, shows that 2 of these immigrants will be from Luxembourg, 3 from...

On August 1, 2001, Hollywood actor James Woods witnessed four men of Middle Eastern appearance engaged in suspicious behavior on a transcontinental flight from Boston to Los Angeles. Mr. Woods’ first public recounting of his observations was five months after 9/11 on The O’Reilly Factor. During that February 15, 2002 broadcast, Mr. Woods stated that the suspicious behavior of the four men “would have been blatantly obvious to the most casual observer.” Investigation ultimately confirmed that the actor witnessed a “practice run” for the 9/11 hijackings. He ultimately learned that all four men he observed aboard his flight were terrorists...

US Plane Attack Suspect Quizzed After 'Terror Attempt' A Nigerian reported to have links to al-Qaeda is being questioned after an attempted act of terrorism on a plane arriving in the US, officials say. They say the 23-year-old man was trying to ignite an explosive device as the jet approached Detroit from Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He was overpowered by some of the 278 passengers and 11 crew. Reports say he burnt his leg. No-one else was hurt. Police in London are searching a house where the man is thought to have lived. The suspect is believed to have studied...

Quote: NO VISA REQUIREMENT FOR TRAVEL FROM TURKEY TO JORDAN I'm pretty sure the brothers think they can use this to their advantage... Posted on 06 December 2009 @ 13:17

Bring up the topic of economic stimulus and job creation, and you won't hear much about immigration. If the topic does arise, it's usually because somebody believes foreigners are taking U.S. jobs. It's time to bring the immigration question squarely into the debate over jobs. A change to immigration policy could help create jobs and rev up economic growth. It's a change that wouldn't be hard to bring about. I'm talking about the establishment of a Startup Founders Visa program. The program would make it easier for those with great ideas and the desire to start a company to live...

The European Parliament is scheduled to give Wednesday the 'green light' on annulment of Schengen visas for Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro as of December 19, Slovenian MEP Tanja Fajon, who prepared the visa liberalization report for Western Balkan countries, told MIA. Fajon said she was certain that the European Parliament would adopt the report, including Slovenia's proposal for annulment of Schengen visas on December 19 instead of the European Commission proposal of January 1. "I believe it is very realistic to expect that citizens of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro will be able to travel freely in the EU as of...

Sudhir Kapoor, 25, got the call from his employer late last year. It was bad news: The economic downturn meant the technology company had to let him go. Laxmi Aiyar, who is returning to India after she was laid off by her company, says, "It is Indian talents who made America rich and prosperous. Now, they are throwing us out like a can of Pepsi." Since nearly 40 percent of all H-1B visa holders are from India , the mounting layoffs are hitting Indian professionals particularly hard. ....Lives have been disrupted, and some said they were under tremendous stress to...

Thanks to a special emailer for pointing to this article: “He” Josy Joseph / DNASunday, November 8, 2009 2:38 IST SNIPPET: “New Delhi: The two terror suspects arrested in the US for plotting to strike targets in Denmark and India spent significant time in Mumbai before the 26/11 attacks, authoritative sources have told DNA. While one of them operated a visa agency in Mumbai for almost two years until the latter part of 2008, the other suspect spent 10 days in the city just days before the terror strike last November.” SNIPPET: “According to available information, David Coleman Headley, the...

DALLAS — Seventy million dollars worth of federal, state and city funds are pouring into the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Supporters hope the span will be a signature for the city. But it may be remembered for something else, because the key jobs in its construction -- tens of thousands of man hours of work — are going to Italians. On the construction site in the Trinity River bottoms, an American inspector told News 8: "If you don't speak Italian, it's going to be tough to communicate." In broken English, a man who appeared...

The Wall Street Journal has a front page story today on that portrays a sharp decline in the number of H-1B visas. The paper reports that "only 46,700" applications had been made for 65,000 H-1B visas available. Intel's director of work-force policy and manager of the firm's immigration policies, Jenifer Verdery, proclaims that, "The fact that the 65,000-visa cap hasn't been reached this year shows that the market will temper demand when necessary" The spin here is that the worst economy since the Great Depression has caused industry to reduce its use of H-1B visa from every last visa possible...

Note: The following text is a quote: Beware of bogus websites! (30/10/2009) The UK Border Agency is the official UK Government authority providing information and guidance for visa applicants and for making decisions on visa applications for the United Kingdom. We operate through the following official websites: UK Border Agency corporate website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk UK Border Agency Visa Services website: www.ukvisas.gov.uk UK Border Agency Online Application Service (Visa4UK): www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk Local websites operated by our commercial partners, CSC Worldbridge and VFS Global, and British Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates around the world. We would advise you to avoid all other websites claiming...

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Vivek Wadhwa, an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Executive in Residence at Duke University. Follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa. I spent Columbus Day in Sunnyvale, fittingly, meeting with a roomful of new arrivals. Well, relatively new. They were Indians living in Silicon Valley. The event was organized by the Think India Foundation, a think-tank that seeks to solve problems which Indians face. When introducing the topic of skilled immigration, the discussion moderator, Sand Hill Group founder M.R. Rangaswami...

Note: The following SNIPPET is a quote: Head of English Language School Sentenced to Federal Prison for Immigration Fraud Conspiracy Songwoo Shim Obtained Fraudulent Certification for School and Used School as Front to Issue Fraudulent Immigration Documents to Illegal Aliens ATLANTA, GA—SONGWOO SHIM, 48, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. to serve three years, 10 months in federal prison for conspiring to encourage and induce aliens to reside unlawfully in the United States and for manufacturing fraudulent visa documents. Acting United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This defendant obtained approval...

EL PASO -- José Daniel González was living the sweet life in America. He bought the $365,000 two-story Mediterranean with the tile roof and swimming pool. He started a trucking company, was raising a family. But on a Friday night in May, he was executed in his front yard -- eight shots, tight pattern, close range. According to police detectives, González knew the man who ordered his killing. He also knew the man who stood on his lawn and watched him die...A gangland-style slaying is no big news across the river in Ciudad Juarez, where more than 1,300 people have...