When the United States tightened its immigration policies in response to concerns over terrorism, Microsoft's Bill Gates and General Electric's Jeffrey Immelt warned that some of these restrictions were harmful to US economic interests. Further, academic and business leaders warned that the restrictions were causing many of the world's most promising international students of science and engineering to go elsewhere. Under pressure from the academic, science and business body, in February 2005 the US State Department eased the Visa Mantis Program by extending the validity of science-related visas from one year to up to four years. Will more rational policy reforms follow? US Immigration Laws examines many of the dramatic changes that have occurred to immigration laws in recent years, and points to areas that can be adjusted to reduce needless burdens while maintaining security. Many of the policy changes discussed were implemented after the attacks of September 11, 2001, but several of these laws were created throughout the 1990s, some after the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. The opening chapter examines that very event and the remainder of the book follows the progression of modifications in immigration laws in the US up to the present. The book concludes with an assessment of the future of immigration and immigration policies. This book is written for those who have an interest in current events, immigration, law, political science and the legislative reaction to terrorism. It is intended to provoke scholarly debate through a thorough examination of immigration policies as they have been influenced by the threat of terrorism. * Julie Farnam is an immigration specialistworking with universities, the International Rescue Committee, and community groups to counsel immigration applicants on student immigration rules and regulations, and adjustment of status applications and naturalization applications. Ms. Farnam also writes on immigration and employment-related issues for several Massachusetts newspapers. She holds a Masters Degree from Lesley University, Cambridge, MA.
