Immigration news has been the news of late.

Reality television is not generally a hot immigration topic. That’s all changed with the new show on the National Geographic Channel’s Border Security: Canada’s Front Line. It has the immigration bar abuzz.

It’s a new year and, in many ways, it’s a new Canadian immigration system.

A few years ago, I had a client who asked me how I “lived with myself” because I helped foreign workers enter Canada. At first, I wasn’t clear on where this client perceived my moral ambiguity to be. The client elaborated to say it seemed immoral to bring the best and brightest from other countries to Canada, when those people should be remaining in their home countries and making things better “at home” (as if it was my decision where they live to begin with).  

The “faster removal of foreign criminals act” sounds like a good plan and has a catchy name. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has even established his own petition so you can click on a link and show that yes, you too are tough on crime.

As a business immigration lawyer, my days and nights are spent discussing and strategizing around the world of global migration. Getting person X from country A to country B quickly and efficiently in order to meet a business’ goals is a large focus of much of my work. While the big news in immigration this year has dealt with somewhat draconian changes the government is making to the refugee system, big changes are coming for the economic programs as well.

During the second reading of bill C-31, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney has been quoted as saying, “Stand up for the immigration lawyers!”

So far it’s been a quiet 2012 for the immigration bar, except for one area that is heating up: the myriad issues facing the Temporary Foreign Worker program and new temporary foreign worker audits.

On Nov. 4, the Canadian government announced it was taking immediate action to cut the backlog of parent/grandparent sponsorship applications by suspending any new applications for the program. It vowed to decrease the backlog of 165,000 files by increasing the number of those backlogged applications processed during 2012. In addition, the government will be introducing a new “Parent and Grandparent Super Visa,” which will allow eligible applicants a 10-year visa valid for multiple two-year stays in Canada. This Super Visa will become available on Dec. 1.

The United States is one of the only major countries in the world to tax its citizens regardless of where in the world they live. And the taxation issues with U.S. citizens who live abroad has never been a more active topic in immigration law than it is right now.