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Immigration reform failed in US Senate
Since no agreement could be reached after a two-week negotiations marathon, the bill for an immigration reform has been removed from the agenda by the US Senate on June 11, at least for now. Conservative politicians criticize the bill because it gives easy access to green cards would thus grant lawful residence to the roughly 12 million illegal immigrants in the US. Liberals, however, didn't like the plan for a guest worker program, the first of that kind, which they fear would lead to an expansion and further legitimization of the low-wage sector. At first, it remained unclear when the reform bill will return to the agenda. Every delay, however, makes it less likely that the arduously worked on compromise will be signed into law during the remaining time of the Bush administration.

That's why, on June 15, a group of Senators from both parties decided to re-introduce the bill to the agenda before summer break. In order to reach a compromise, each party will only be allowed to add ten to twelve amendments, instead of several hundred, as originally planned. Nevertheless, it is very unlikely that, in light of the arguments before, the bill will be passed in both houses on such short notice. If no agreement can be reached, the immigration reform will probably become a central issue for the presidential elections of November 2008.

US government is planning to introduce stricter controls for tourists
The US Department of Homeland Security is planning to introduce stricter admission regulations for European citizens. In an interview, US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said the plan was to raise security standards with the help of an electronic travel authorization system. Travelers without a visa would then have to register in the US inline 48 hours prior to departure and complete an online form. The reason for this is, according to Chertoff, the threat of Islamist terrorists in Europe. The bill, however, still has to pass Congress before it becomes effective. Due to the already quite strict security regulations for admission into the US, a decreasing number of Germans still flies to the US anyway. Last year, according to the Travel Industry Association (TIA), the US could welcome almost 1.4 million travelers from Germany - in 1999, there had still been two million. Due to that, the tourism sector is harshly criticizing these plans. I remains uncertain whether they will ever be signed into law.

Google demands higher availability of H-1B visas
In light of the debate about the immigration reform, Google has demanded that the US government raise the number of available H-1B visas. Google's vice president Laszlo Bock said "Each and every day we find ourselves unable to pursue highly qualified candidates because there are not enough H-1B visas. We would encourage Congress to significantly increase the annual cap of 65,000 H-1B visas, to a figure more reflective of the growth rate of our technology-driven economy." Bock continued to explain that Google wasn't the only Silicon Valley company that had so far profited from immigration. Companies such as Intel, eBay, Yahoo, or SunMicrosystems had been founded by immigrants.

The H-1B visa program allows foreign scientists, technologists and engineers to work in the US for six years.

Find further details on www.rediff.com/money/2007/jun/07google.htm