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Practical Guides and FAQs for the Federal STEM Initiatives

Learn how institutions, employers, or talented researchers and other highly skilled individuals in the STEM fields can take advantage of the Early Career STEM Research Initiative.

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  • Blog

How Immigrant Entrepreneurs Move the U.S. Economy Forward

May 6, 2015

This week, National Small Business Week, which has occurred each year since 1963, recognizes the contributions of entrepreneurs and small business owners in the United States. According to the U.S...

  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on High-Skilled Immigrant Workers

March 17, 2015
The statement discusses the powerful role that immigration has played in developing a strong and competent work force for the 21st century, especially in regards to the science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM) fields.
  • Press Release

Executive Director Benjamin Johnson Testifies Before Senate on High-Skilled Immigration

March 17, 2015

Washington D.C. - Today, the American Immigration Council's Executive Director, Benjamin Johnson, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the integral role immigration plays in

  • Amicus Briefs

Mantena v. Napolitano - Second Circuit

Publication Date: 
December 15, 2014
The Council, with AILA, filed an amicus brief arguing that a district court has jurisdiction to review procedures followed by USCIS to revoke an employment-based visa petition. Amici argue that INA § 242(a)(2)(B), which limits judicial review over certain discretionary decisions, does not preclude review over the question of whether USCIS was required to provide notice of the visa petition revocation proceedings to the beneficiary. This is particularly true where, as in this case, the beneficiary had utilized the “porting” provision of INA § 204(j) to change employers more than 2 ½ years earlier, but USCIS issued its notice of intent to revoke only to the former employer and revoked the petition when the former employer did not respond.
  • Litigation

Visa Programs for High-Skilled Workers

Valorem, an IT consulting company, petitioned to employ a software developer for three years in H-1B status as part of a project development team at its office. Initially, USCIS denied the petition, but later – after Valorem, represented by AILA member Susan Bond, filed suit – approved it for one year.
  • Press Release

Immigration Council Urges U.S. Department of Labor to Ensure Fairness

September 17, 2014

Washington, D.C.

  • Amicus Briefs

Simply Soup Ltd. d/b/a NY Soup Exchange - BALCA

Publication Date: 
August 29, 2014
The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA), the administrative body at the Department of Labor that reviews denials of PERM labor certifications, concluded that the Certifying Officer (CO) had the discretion, but not the obligation, to request missing documentation. BALCA failed to address arguments made by the Council and AILA in their amicus brief: that due process and fundamental fairness, as well as the PERM regulatory structure, require the CO to request supplemental documentation when the employer’s compliance with documentation requirements is evident from the record.
  • Special Report

Revitalization in the Heartland of America

Publication Date: 
January 15, 2014
A potent combination of declining population growth and economic stagnation has led many cities and metropolitan regions to rethink how to reinvigorate their communities. The Midwest is a prime...
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Files BALCA Brief Challenging Unfair DOL Process

November 8, 2013

Yesterday, the American Immigration Council, in collaboration with AILA, filed an amicus brief

  • Amicus Briefs

Microsoft Corporation - BALCA

Publication Date: 
November 7, 2013
The Council and AILA filed an amicus brief in an en banc case pending before BALCA, an administrative body at the Department of Labor that reviews denials of PERM labor certifications. The case turned on the proper interpretation of a regulation which requires employers to notify certain laid-off U.S. employees about new job opportunities before the employers are permitted to hire foreign workers. The brief focused on the agency’s failure to provide fair warning before applying a new, more restrictive interpretation of the notification requirement.

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