Trump to seek changes in visa program to encourage hiring Americans

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday will sign an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs.

Two senior Trump administration officials who briefed reporters at the White House said Trump will also use the "buy American and hire American" order to seek changes in government procurement practices to increase the purchase of American products in federal contracts.

Trump is to sign the order when he visits the world headquarters of Snap-On Inc, a tool manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The order is an attempt by Trump to carry out his "America First" campaign pledges to reform U.S. immigration policies and encourage purchases of American products. As he nears the 100-day benchmark of his presidency, Trump has no major legislative achievements to tout but has used executive orders to seek regulatory changes to help the U.S. economy.

The order he will sign on Tuesday will call for "the strict enforcement of all laws governing entry into the United States of labor from abroad for the stated purpose of creating higher wages and higher employment rates for workers in the United States," one of the senior officials said.

It will call on the departments of Labor, Justice, Homeland Security and State to take action to crack down on what the official called "fraud and abuse" in the U.S. immigration system to protect American workers.

The order will call on those four federal departments to propose reforms to ensure H-1B visas are awarded to the most skilled or highest paid applicant.

H-1B visas are intended for foreign nationals in "specialty" occupations that generally require higher education, which according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) includes, but is not limited to, scientists, engineers or computer programmers. The government uses a lottery to award 65,000 visas every year and randomly distributes another 20,000 to graduate student workers.

The number of applications for H-1B visas fell to 199,000 this year from 236,000 in 2016, according U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Companies say they use visas to recruit top talent. More than 15 percent of Facebook Inc's U.S. employees in 2016 used a temporary work visa, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. Labor Department filings.

But a majority of the visas are awarded to outsourcing firms, sparking criticism by skeptics who say those firms use the visas to fill lower-level information technology jobs. Critics also say the lottery system benefits outsourcing firms that flood the system with mass applications.

The senior official said the end result of how the system currently works is that foreign workers are often brought in at less pay to replace American workers, "violating the principle of the program."

BJP weighing up ‘political split’ in Rajapaksa camp?

Even as Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa angles for a political comeback, New Delhi appears to be weighing up possible political shifts in the island, including a split in the Rajapaksa camp, the Hindu reported. On February 10, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, known to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s point man on Sri Lanka, met President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo, a week before Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s scheduled official visit. Mr. Madhav also met a few other key political actors, The Hindu learns, and reportedly discussed political options that might “neutralise” former strongman Rajapaksa. Confirming that he met the President and the Prime Minister to discuss bilateral issues and a forthcoming Indian Ocean conference in the island, Mr. Madhav, when contacted in New Delhi, said “the [other] allegations are false”.

While he categorically denied having discussed the former first family in any of his meetings, political sources in Colombo told The Hindu that the BJP’s key strategist seemed to explore the possibility of Gotabaya Rajapaksa decamping from Mahinda Rajapaksa in return for high political office. One of Sri Lanka’s most controversial figures and brother of the ex-President, Mr. Gotabaya was prominent in the leadership to defeat the LTTE, playing a key role as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. Currently facing corruption charges for allegedly transferring state-owned weapons to a private firm, causing a loss of nearly $75 million to the country, he has been a staunch critic of the government’s reconciliation strategy. While Mr. Madhav’s reported enquiries about him have raised eyebrows in political circles, its timing is also significant. Two years after coming to power, Sri Lanka’s national unity government — formed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) that President Sirisena leads and its rival United National Party with PM Wickremesinghe at the helm — is pulling apart. Amid mounting criticism over the government’s delay in delivering its key election promises, coupled with looming corruption charges, the government is facing another immediate task for its survival — managing the ex-President, who leads a faction of the SLFP.

This political grouping is challenging virtually every move of the government as a “joint opposition” in Parliament. Meanwhile, Mr. Rajapaksa has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of India. Observing that New Delhi has been “mouse-like” on the current government’s China policy, while it objected to his, the former President has accused India of plotting his defeat in the January 2015 elections. Even as Colombo tries to iron out issues with Beijing on a massive port and investment zone being built with Chinese assistance, Mr. Rajapaksa went to China in late 2016 on an invitation from the government. At the same time, Colombo-New Delhi ties improved visibly with Mr. Modi’s visit to the neighbouring country in 2015, the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly three decades. India and Sri Lanka are currently negotiating a trade deal and exploring partnerships in the strategically crucial eastern city of Trincomalee, in addition to collaborating on development projects. Mr. Madhav is a frequent visitor to Colombo and a known emissary of Mr. Modi. Foreign Secretary Mr. Jaishankar, who arrives on Saturday for a two-day visit, will meet the Sri Lankan President, Prime Minister and other key political actors.

Bandaranayake Says Sri Lanka war widows face sexual exploitation

Tamil women who survived Sri Lanka's civil war now face widespread sexual exploitation by officials in their own community as well as from the army, the head of an ethnic reconciliation body said Wednesday.

Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, the chairwoman of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, said women who were widowed during the 37-year conflict were among the victims of abuse by officials who frequently demand sexual favours just to carry out routine paperwork.

“There is a lot of sexual abuse still going on by officials, even Tamil officials and even at lower levels, the grama sevakas (village officials),” she told Sri Lanka's Foreign Correspondents' Association.

“Even to sign a document, they abuse the women and of course some people in the (armed) forces” continue to commit sexual abuse, she said.

Kumaratunga, who lost an eye in a Tamil Tiger suicide bombing when she was president at the height of the conflict, said the best way to make women less vulnerable was to improve their livelihoods.

“We feel that when women have livelihoods, they will be empowered... they feel safer and they don't have to be exploited,” she said.

Kumaratunga said many women had been traumatised as a result of the sexual abuse and needed psychological support but the authorities lacked qualified experts to treat them.

“We cannot bring counsellors from abroad because they won't know the language,” she said.

Many women, particularly widows, have struggled in the war's aftermath to obtain identity papers and birth certificates which are essential to obtain government handouts and other aid.

Prosecutions of military personnel or officials for sex crimes are rare in Sri Lanka, although four soldiers were jailed for 25 years for the gang-rape of a young Tamil mother in 2010, a year after the war ended.

At least 100,000 Sri Lankans lost their lives during the conflict that saw horrific abuses by both sides.

Sri Lankan PM says failed asylum seekers safe to return home

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday that failed asylum seekers held in Australian-run detention centres in the South Pacific will not face prosecution or harm if they return home.

Wickremesinghe's comment comes as Australia increases pressure on failed asylum seekers on Papua New Guinea's Manus island and the tiny island nation of Nauru to return home voluntarily, including offering large sums of money, amid fears a deal for the United States to take refugees has collapsed, REUTERS reported.

Only five men from Nepal on Manus have so far opted to leave despite the threat of deportations.

Australia does not publish details on the nationalities of the 1,152 people held on Manus and Nauru though refugee advocates said there are approximately 150 Sri Lankans detained.

Many of these would have received their refugee status, advocates said, but for those who have been rejected, they face the choice of accepting the offer of cash from Australia or the threat of deportation.

"They are welcome to return to Sri Lanka and we won't prosecute them," Wickremesinghe told reporters in Australia's capital Canberra.

Despite the assurances from Wickremesinghe, refugee advocates said many Sri Lankans would be reluctant to return home amid reports of mistreatment of members of the ethnic Tamil minority, a claim Wickremesinghe rejected.

"It is quite safe for them to come back... we want all the Tamils to come back," said Wickremesinghe.

Ravi Says Wijeyadasa doesn’t know what he is talking about

Replying to a statement made by the Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe with regard to the access to temporary resident visas, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake maintained that Minister Rajapakshe was misinformed and did not know what he was talking about. Criticizing Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s statement that temporary resident visas would be issued to foreigners who invest a minimum of US$300,000, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had earlier made a comment that such a move only opens the door for beggars to enter the country. He also alleged that Finance Minister Karunanayake had no business issuing such a statement without consulting the Cabinet.

Bandula said this is Most widespread opposition to taxes in Sri Lanka’s history

The most widespread opposition to taxes in Sri Lanka’s history, by consumers and businessmen on the same stance, was witnessed in the past couple of weeks, former minister Bandula Gunawardena said.

He stated that previously shops were closed down in Pettah, Sri Lanka’s main and longstanding trading hub for wholesalers and retailers, only during the riots of July 1983.

“This is the first time in history that Pettah was closed due to VAT since the riots of July 1983,” he told reporters in Colombo today (19).

The UPFA MP said that certain prominent figures in the government had claimed the opposition was created by traders who are avoiding taxes and

He stated that businessmen don’t easily join protests, unless they are burdened to the extent that they cannot bear it and no matter what political party tells them to do or not to.

The Government is eyeing to increase the prices of fuel instead of tax increase, National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa said. The observation was made at a press conference held in Colombo this afternoon (18). “While amending the bill on VAT, there is a move to increase the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs.10 each, according to sources” Weerawansa charged. He also accused the present Government of supporting Tamil extremism. “But, the previous Government backed the Tamil community, not extremism,” said Weerawansa. The NFF leader also went on to say that there will be a job crisis in Sri Lanka if the proposed economic pact is signed with India as scheduled next month.