Category: Uncategorized

The federal government is now in partial shutdown due to a failure by President Trump and Congress to agree on how to fund the government.  How does this impact key immigration agencies?

Gerry Shih reports for the AP today that the U.S. government may pursue sanctions on Chinese officials involved in human rights abuses in the western region of Xinjiang. Shih has recently reported elsewhere on a sweeping security crackdown in the region. 

The latest Immigrant Visa Instructions published by the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou on Nov. 24, 2017, require that an applicant who has “ever used another name or alias on legal documentation or for other official purpose must provide a certified alias certificate” (别名证明文件).

The Trump administration’s war on immigration has included an array of tactics. There have been full frontal assaults, such as the Muslim ban, cancellation of DACA, the border wall, and the RAISE Act. Simultaneously, the Trump administration is using the tactic of death by a thousand cuts: numerous assaults in the administrative agencies and courts…

On August 2, White House adviser Stephen Miller held a press conference defending President Donald Trump’s support for the RAISE Act, legislation that would reduce legal immigration to the United States. CNN reporter Jim Acosta asked whether the bill is in keeping with Emma Lazarus’ sonnet, The New Colossus, at the base of the Statue…

The Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act (RAISE) Act – introduced by Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue, with the support of President Trump – would eliminate the immigration system that we know today and replace it with a points-based system that ignores the benefits of family unity and the needs of U.S.…

Daniel Bell, Why Anyone Can Be Chinese (Wall St. Journal, July 14, 2017): Daniel Bell is a Canadian by birth who has who has taught political science in China for twenty years, speaks Chinese, and studies Confucian philosophy. In this essay, he writes, “I identify with Chinese culture” but objects that “no one considers me…

A report commissioned by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and disseminated agencywide recommends that the Department of Homeland Security take over the issuance of U.S. visas, passports and other travel documents as a cost-saving mechanism, according to media reports.

Members of Congress from both parties are investigating whether Kushner Companies’ EB-5 fundraising activities constitute securities fraud. As has been widely reported, Kushner Companies recently put on a roadshow to market to Chinese investors a New Jersey real estate project called One Journal Square. The investments are structured such that investors may qualify for green…

AmCham China just published its 2017 White Paper on American Business in China. “With uncertainty stemming from political and economic transitions in both the US and China, perceptions of a deteriorating investment environment for foreign companies in China, and a slowing economy, 2017 will likely be one of the most challenging years in decades for…

Make your lunch productive by joining 12-15 motivated young professionals from within the AmCham China community to discuss U.S. and China visa issues. Mar. 8, 12pm, Deloitte Beijing Office. Read more.

Executive Order: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States (on whitehouse.gov)

Executive Order: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements (on whitehouse.gov)

Nationality laws regulate the citizenship rights of women who marry, divorce, and have children. Historically, many nationality laws discriminated against women. The Qing Dynasty’s Nationality Law (1909) is but one example: