USCIS Continues to Accept FY 2011 H-1B Petitions
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced it continues to accept H-1B nonimmigrant petitions subject to the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY 2011) cap. USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received for both the 65,000 general cap and the 20,000 U.S. master’s degree or higher educational exemption.
USCIS has received approximately 13,500 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap. The agency has received approximately 5,600 petitions for individuals with advanced degrees.
USCIS will provide regular updates on the processing of FY 2011 H-1B petitions. These updates and helpful filing information can be found at USCIS’ Web site. Should USCIS receive the necessary number of petitions to meet the cap, it will issue an update to advise the public, that the FY 2011 H-1B cap has been met as of a certain date (the “final receipt date”). The final receipt date will be based on the date USCIS physically receives the petition, not the date that the petition has been postmarked. The date USCIS informs the public that the cap has been reached may differ from the actual final receipt date.
To ensure a fair system, USCIS may randomly select the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit from the petitions received on the final receipt date. USCIS will reject cap subject petitions that are not selected, as well as those received after the final receipt date.
For cases filed for premium processing during the initial five-day filing window of April 1-7, the 15-day premium processing period began April 7. For cases filed for premium processing after the filing window, the premium processing period begins on the date that the petition is physically received at the correct USCIS Service Center.
Petitions filed by employers who are exempt from the cap or petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap within the past six years will not count toward the congressionally mandated H-1B cap.
Therefore, USCIS will continue to process all petitions filed. For more information on USCIS and its programs, visit www.uscis.gov.
H-1B in General: U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.

Senators Reid & Durbin Pledge Action on Immigration Reform
Washington, DC – Thousands of people gathered at rallies across the country to call for comprehensive immigration reform and got vocal backing from the top two Democrats in the Senate this weekend.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) reiterated their support for comprehensive immigration reform and called for legislative action this year.  The pledges of support come at a time when Latino voter enthusiasm about the November mid-term elections is very low, and point to the role the issue plays in galvanizing Latino voters.
Speaking to a crowd of 10,000 in Las Vegas, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) vowed to take up immigration reform in 2010, saying, “We’re going to come back, we’re going to have comprehensive immigration reform now...We need to do this this year.”
At a rally in Chicago, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) pledged to move on immigration reform and to try to recruit Senate Republicans to support reform legislation.  He compared this effort to the dedication that helped pass healthcare legislation and called for “that same determination and that same commitment to pass comprehensive immigration reform this year.”
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, “Senator Reid and Senator Durbin have hit on a winning strategy—comprehensive immigration reform is both smart policy and smart politics for the Democratic Party.  Advancing immigration reform this year would show the American people that Democrats are in charge and up to the challenge, and mobilize Latino voters who want campaign promises to be acted on.  It would also force Republicans to decide whether to reopen diplomatic relations with the fastest-growing group of new voters in the country, or allow the Party to be defined by its anti-immigrant strain.”
The events in Las Vegas and Chicago were accompanied by similar rallies in Brooklyn, El Paso, Philadelphia, Providence, and Seattle and continued the momentum generated by the massive “March for America” in Washington, DC on March 21st, which featured over 200,000 marchers who gathered to support immigration reform.  As an article in Sunday’s Washington Post and recent Latino polling from Bendixen & Amandi and Latino Decisions highlighted, the Latino electorate is showing signs of disillusionment that will impact the 2010 mid-term elections unless immigration reform is addressed.  According to Latino Decisions, “there will have to be a genuine attempt on the part of the administration and Democrats in Congress to act on immigration” in order to mobilize the Latino vote for the 2010 cycle.  Analysis by America’s Voice shows that depressed Latino turnout could impact more than forty battleground races across the nation.   
It is not just experts on Latino voting patterns that are urging action on comprehensive immigration reform.  This week, Cokie Roberts made the same point on both NPR and ABC News/This Week, and Democratic strategists James Carville and Stan Greenberg recommended action at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in late March.