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Many economic sectors hardest hit in the economic downturn are among those that attracted the largest numbers of foreign workers, including the hospitality and financial industries. And some businesses still hiring are getting more applications from Americans, making it less likely the Labor Department will let them import foreign workers to fill positions, said Kathleen Campbell Walker, an El Paso attorney who specializes in immigration employment law and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Horacio Alday, 34, said the Houston firm where he works as an auditor recently told him and the rest of its temporary foreign workers it would not be sponsoring them for green cards because of the economy. "Because of the situation and ... people out there looking for job, they're not willing to sponsor you," said Alday, who is Guatemalan. "They don't need to, I guess." One unforeseen benefit of the drop in applications is that Citizenship and Immigration Services has been able to work through a large backlog that had led to wait times of 15 months or more in some cases. With a lighter work load and a larger staff in place, the approval process now takes less than six months on average from start to finish, Barrows said.
[Associated
Press;
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