US Immigration News

The well-known rapper Yasiin Bey, better known as Mos Def, has cancelled his US tour because of 'immigration/legal issues'. Yasiin Bey performed as Mos Def from the 1990s and is also an experienced actor who has appeared in numerous films and TV shows.

The news broke on the website of the Together music festival in Boston which stated 'We regret to inform you that due to immigration/legal issues Yasiin Bey is unable to enter back into the United States and his upcoming US tour has been canceled'.

The US State Department says that Narendra Modi will be issued a US A1 visa as the new prime minister of India after his landslide victory in the Indian election. Mr Modi has previously been denied a US visa because of allegations that he was responsible, in part at least, for the deaths of more than 1,000 Muslims in Gujarat in 2002.

Sal Russo, a high-profile Tea Party activist, has called on the US Congress to 'fix' the US's immigration system. Mr Russo wrote an opinion piece for the Washington political newspaper Roll Call in which he called for a complete overhaul of the US's 'broken' system.

Compete America, a body which lobbies on behalf of high-tech industries in the US, has called on the US Congress to pass legislation to increase the number of H-1B visas available to US industry.

Scott Corley, the chief executive of Compete America, has written an opinion piece for the Washington political newspaper Roll Call to raise awareness of 'the H-1B visa crisis'. Mr Corley says that the US economy would have been creating an additional new job every 43 seconds if the H-1B system had been reformed.

Two senior officials in the Obama administration have announced proposals to allow the spouses of some H-1B visa holders to work while in the US. Currently, spouses of H-1B visa holders are only allowed to work if they qualify for a work visa, such as an H-1B or L-1 visa, themselves.

The change would not apply to spouses of all H-1B visa holders but only to spouses of those H-1B visa holders who are skilled in one of the STEM subjects; science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

President Obama has used a speech in South Korea to call on the US Congress to pass immigration reform. The President was speaking at a naturalisation ceremony for members of the US military who were born outside the US.

Mr Obama said that the US must 'fix our broken immigration system' and attract 'the brightest and the best'. He urged Congress 'pass common sense immigration reform'.