Human Migration

SYDNEY—Pharmaceutical companies scored a legal victory that will again allow them to pay people who cross the border from Mexico for their blood plasma, giving a boost to U.S. supply of a critical ingredient needed for treating serious disorders. On Friday, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction that prevents border officials from enforcing a ban on paying for plasma donations from Mexicans who enter the U.S. on visitor visas. The…

BOZEMAN, Mont.—Samimullah Samim flew his last mission for the Afghan air force a year ago, rescuing wounded soldiers from Helmand province as the country was falling to the Taliban. He has returned to the skies in America, where he flies firefighting missions in Montana, Idaho and nearby states. Mr. Samim is the first Afghan pilot to make the transition to flying in the U.S. after a harrowing escape through Kabul airport with his wife and three young children last year. He upgraded his qualifications here with the…

The number of U.S. student visas issued to Chinese nationals plunged by more than 50% in the first half of 2022 compared with pre-Covid levels, with the U.S. losing ground as the most-coveted place for Chinese students to pursue higher education abroad.Even before the pandemic, Chinese students were shifting their study-abroad sights elsewhere, driven by doubts about whether they would feel welcome in the U.S. and the emergence of more domestic and international alternatives. Travel restrictions and heightened safety…

Photo: Handout (Getty Images)Can federal agencies turn to private data brokers to gather data on individuals that would normally be protected under local laws?That question took center stage during a public hearing in Cook County Illinois, where rights groups and immigration activists organized and urged lawmakers to investigate the ways U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement allegedly partners with private data brokers to target undocumented immigrants. According to the activists, ICE’s siphoning up of vast troves of…

Mexico’s president is headed to the White House for a bilateral meeting with President Biden on Tuesday as both administrations face a surge in migration and growing differences on energy, trade and WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the U.S.Mr. Biden and Mexico’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador are expected to announce multiyear, joint projects to modernize border infrastructure, senior administration officials said. Those efforts are focused on improving the flow of people…

WASHINGTON—Tech-industry representatives are coming to Capitol Hill this week to warn that the remote-work trend will lead to more offshoring of software developer and other technology jobs unless the U.S. admits more high-skilled immigrants.Remote jobs in tech jumped by more than 420% between January 2020 and last month, growth that was intensified by the pandemic, according to a jobs data review by Tecna, a trade group for regional tech councils. In February, more than 22% of all tech jobs were listed as remote,…