It’s hard to imagine that USCIS could get any more enforcement oriented than this filing season, being totally preoccupied with fraud.  Computerworld reports that Senator Grassley is asking immigration officials to toughen their demands for evidence from companies hiring visa workers.

His letter to USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, released Tuesday, also comes just prior to the start of the new fiscal year, Oct. 1 and the release of 66,700 H-1B visas petitions, a number well short of the cap, applied for since April 1, the start of the annual petition process.

In a statement accompanying the release of his letter to Mayorkas, Grassley said, that “Employers need to be held accountable so that foreign workers are not flooding the market, depressing wages, and taking jobs from qualified Americans. Asking the right questions and requesting the necessary documents will go a long way in getting out the fraud in the H-1B program.”  For more on this, please refer to above link and Grassley’s letter to USCIS.

As of 6/19/09, 44,500 H-1B cap-subject petitions have beenr received by USCIS for FY 2010 and 20,000 petitions seeking the advanced degree exemption.  As of this writing, USCIS will continue to receive cap subject and advanced degree petitions until the cap is met.