New rules will make it tougher for companies in the U.S. to hire specialty workers on H-1B visas and may alter who gets the visas.  H-1B visa holders are required to have specialized knowledge and, at minimum, a bachelor’s degree.  The new rules, announced Friday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), would require companies that seek to hire foreigners to pre-register electronically with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during a designated period in advance of the annual H-1B lottery.  The pre-registration will require additional paperwork and subject companies to new scrutiny.  The lottery takes place every April, and within days the quota is usually filled through random selection. The number of H-1B visas is capped at 65,000, with an additional 2,000 for advanced-degree holders.  USCIS, however, seeks to make the process less random by reversing it, “likely increasing the number of beneficiaries with a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. institution …

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has asked the Pentagon to extend the U.S. military presence at the Mexico border into next year.  The Department of Homeland Security requested a 45-day extension of the deployment, which would stretch it until at least the end of January. The Defense Department is expected to approve the extension. The border deployment was supposed to wrap up by Dec. 15, but Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Katie Waldman said in a statement Friday that an “ongoing threat” at the southern border requires continued military presence. Approximately 5,600 active-duty forces are currently supporting border agents at the U.S.-Mexico border in the states of Texas, Arizona and California. President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of active-duty troops to the border in response to a caravan of thousands of Central American migrants who were trekking toward the United States.  Democrats criticized the move, saying it was …