Employers are requesting far fewer green cards for foreign workers these days. A weak economy is at least partly to blame for the decline.
The Associated Press found:
"With the nation facing a deep recession and high unemployment, the government has received about half the number of employer-sponsored applications for work-based green cards in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 than it did in each of the previous years. There were almost 235,000 applications submitted in fiscal 2007, almost 104,000 the following year, and fewer than 36,000 through the first eight months of fiscal 2009, according to data obtained by the AP."
Because the applications are down, it is taking a lot less time to process requests.
The AP explained:
"To bring in a foreign worker, employers must prove that they couldn't find a staffer in the U.S. who met the minimum requirements for the job, that they're financially healthy and that they will pay the prevailing wage. The potential worker must have specialized skills, be able to fill a job Americans aren't or have extraordinary abilities, such as those of musicians or pro athletes.
"In fiscal year 2007, the latest year for which the statistics were available, most applicants came from India, Mexico, the Philippines, China and Korea, according to the Department of Labor."
The Orange County (Calif.) Register pointed out that
illegal immigration is also down:
"The Center for Immigration Studies, which bills itself as a non-partisan think tank but typically publishes information with a more restrictionist perspective, released the study last week.
"According to a CIS analysis of U.S. Census data, the number of less-educated, Hispanic immigrants aged 18-40 in the country has declined since peaking in August 2007. The group estimates that the illegal population has dropped from 12.5 million to 11.2 million.
"CIS says stronger enforcement, as well as the weaker economy, is the likely cause for the decline. As we've reported before, 1,267 bills have been considered in 45 state legislatures this year, and 175 laws have been enacted in 39 states.
"But the Immigration Policy Center, the research arm of the American Immigration Law Foundation, which tends to favor more open immigration policies, criticized the CIS report. This group says the drop in illegal immigration is due to economic factors [PDF] rather than a step-up in enforcement."
