Looking at the international sources that I could find that spoke on immigration reforms were interesting, mainly because none of them went in as much details and analyses of creating a reform in the United States immigration system.
The international sources I researched that really took a stab at discussing immigration legislation were: Jamaican Observer, Business Standard (India), and the Guardian (UK).
What I found interesting but not that surprising is that foreign sources discuss immigration reforms more from the perspective of the people of their nation more so than, a general reform conversation for all immigrants from different nations. For example, an article in the Jamaican Observer, “Those Proposed Changes to U.S. Immigration Law,” focuses on the part of immigration legislation that would eliminate family visas which would tremendously impact Jamaican families. It does not make mention of the elimination of family visas for other countries, that would essentially have the same exact impact for those families. “Currently two-thirds of visas are issued for family reasons. Only 14 per cent are issued for employment reasons. By eliminating family visas, at one stroke the migration route for many Jamaicans will disappear. Senators are planning to eliminate the family categories, partly to help clear a backlog of 4.3 million family visa applications, but also making it easier for some foreign workers to enter the country. Those family members could still apply for visas. But they would need other qualifications such as work skills and English proficiency to increase their chances.”
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/J-cans-eagerly-await-immigration-reform-in-US_13363373
Compared to the NYT, for example, Jamaican Observer lacks an in-depth look at the entire immigration overhaul proposed by the Senate “Gang of Eight” in terms of its effects on American communities and businesses.
The Business Standard offers business news from cities around India. Its immigration reform news, obviously, centers more on the impacts of an immigration bill on businesses in India. The article, “US Immigration Reforms to Give Fillip to Indian Start-Ups” states, “However, leaked information based on the outline the bipartisan lawmakers had released to the media reveal Indian IT companies have to pay a much higher price in order to avail visas, once the proposals becomes a law.” Meanwhile, another similar article titled, “Active Lobbying to Make Immigration Bill More Practical: Premji” says, “The bill also has also proposed certain changes in the H-1B visa norms which are widely believed to affect the Indian IT services companies. For example, it says that if an employer has more than 50 employees or more than 50% of their employees on H-1B or L-1 visas, it must pay a $10,000 fee per additional worker” So here we have two articles that discusses immigration reform only from two important standpoints: its effects on 1)BUSINESS, mainly the IT industry in different regions of 2)INDIA. Once again another source is writing only behalf of the people of its nation.
The Guardian is the only exception here. It does not discuss the lives and futures of immigrants from the U.K. or even that from neighboring European countries. It does more of what the NYT, Huffington Post, and Fox News does, which is laying out all the elements of the U.S. immigration reform bill whereby dissecting each part by further analyzing and making sense of it. The article “Giving Immigrants A Path to Citizenship is Key to US Economic Growth, ” points out that, “The “gang of eight”, a bipartisan contingent of US senators, has just released an outline of their long awaited comprehensive immigration reform bill. The bill concentrates on three broad components: a pathway to citizenship for unauthorized migrants, border security, and America’s outdated visa allocation system. The most important component of the bill removes the threat of deportation for most of the 11 million unauthorized migrants presently in the country.” Similarly to American news sources, the Guardian fashions its articles to reiterate a lot of arguments around the parts of the bill and what it will do for Americans and the nation moving forward as well as immigrants and their relatives moving forward in the American system. In addition what kind of support the bill would receive from Congress and the rest of the nation.
