A Week in Washington's Arithmetic
A closing reflection on the week's H-1B fee fight, AI-driven layoffs, and 2026 minimum-wage hikes — and what "value" means when every yardstick is moving at once.
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Tagged: immigration
Career advice, platform updates, and commentary on the American job market.
EB-1 India, Running Out of Numbers
EB-2 India is already marked "unavailable" for the rest of the fiscal year. EB-1 — the category for extraordinary-ability workers — may join it within weeks. These are the people the system is supposed to want most, stuck behind a numbers wall that has nothing to do with their qualifications.
Empty Desks in LA Classrooms
LAUSD enrollment fell from over 392,000 to 375,661 in a single year. The superintendent says it's "deeply connected" to what immigrant families are living through. Whatever you think about enforcement policy, this is a cost nobody campaigned on.
Ending the Diversity Visa, On Paper
The ASSIMILATION Act would cap H-1B at 50,000 visas a year, require pay at 200% of the median wage, limit the visa to three non-renewable years, and kill the diversity lottery outright. It's the most aggressive bill I've covered this week — and the wage floor alone would end the outsourcing arbitrage cold.
Two Hundred More Agents to New Orleans
"Operation Catahoula Crunch" was announced as a hunt for violent offenders. On the ground, a lot of what's getting swept up looks like day laborers and tradesmen. The gap between the stated target and the actual result is the whole story.
Laid Off on an H-1B? The Clock Starts the Day You Stop Working, Not the Day Severance Ends
A practical breakdown of the 60-day H-1B grace period after a layoff — what it actually covers, what your employer owes you, and why this system leaves visa holders at the mercy of their sponsor even after they've been cut loose.
Manhattan's Enforcement Surge, as Seen From the Sidewalk
Immigration lawyers and lawmakers in New York say ICE activity has sharply intensified in recent weeks, with monthly arrests climbing fast.
Oracle's 30,000, and the Rest of 2026's Tally
Oracle cut 18.5% of its global workforce by 6 a.m. email, with no warning and no manager conversation, to free up cash for a $50 billion AI data center bet. The company wasn't losing money. It just found a more profitable use for the payroll.
"Americans First," On the House Floor
A bill that would force employers to actually try hiring an American before importing labor, set real wage floors, and cut chain migration by roughly 275,000 green cards a year. Unlike the maximalist bills I've panned this week, this one might actually work.
3.2 Million and Climbing
TRAC's June 2026 numbers put the immigration court backlog at roughly 3.2 million pending cases — record closures haven't stopped the pile from growing.
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