Workers with expired US Visa to be targeted under new strategic plan

Corrections Corporation of America, the largest contractor for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has reached a preliminary agreement with the agency to soften nine immigration facilities.

The US Immigration plan — “Strategic Priorities for Fiscal Years 2010-2014” — outlines upcoming internal changes, its expansion of operations in Mexico, Colombia and Canada, and the proposed construction of at least four additional regional immigration detention centres. The plan has not yet been made officially public, but is available to be viewed in full on the document site Docstoc.com.

The plan outlines the objective to “create a culture of employer compliance,” involving aggressive criminal and civil enforcement against those employers who knowingly violate the law and hire workers without a US Visa or who exploit and abuse workers.

US immigration also proposes a campaign to support the E-Verify program that allows businesses access to a database to check US Visa validity and employment eligibility. Currently, participation is not mandatory, except for federal-contract employees.

The American Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people make US visa applications to the US Embassy.