Ankle Bracelet

Often people arrested by the immigration police are released from custody after placement of an electric monitor on the person’s ankle. This is commonly referred to as an ankle bracelet.

The monitor placed on an ankle is uncomfortable, cannot be removed for washing, and is anything but pretty. It is definitely not a “bracelet.”

Assigning deceptively pleasant words to bad things is a marketing ploy often adopted by the government and continued by the press. For example, genocide and mass slaughter which are anything but clean are called “ethnic cleansing,” and wars are called “conflicts” as though they were domestic spats.

I suggest electronic monitors be called “electronic cuffs” or “electronic ankle shackles” or “electronic shackles.”

I am aware wearing an electronic shackle beats going to jail but language matters, at least sometimes.

Regards,

Martin

Good News – H-1B Cap Not Reached

USCIS has announced that the H-1B visa cap of 65,000 visas, and the 20,000 for U.S. advanced (Ph.D., Master’s) degrees, has not been reached. This means that all applications properly submitted through April 7th will be accepted and adjudicated (and there will be no lottery for these applications). Further, there is time remaining in which to submit new applications.

USCIS says almost all the 20,000 advanced degree visa numbers have been used, but only about half of the 65,000 used.

Initially, rumor was that the cap would be reached on April 7th but this has turned out not to be so. Last year 163,000 applications were received in the first five business days of April.

As a reminder, regardless of when decided new H-1B’s will not be valid until October 1, 2009 at the earliest.

As we have more information we will let you know.

Martin