As you may have seen in the news, the Senate is
very seriously considering a Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR)
law. The Senate’s CIR overreaches and attempts to cure many
immigration problems. While the Senate’s aim is impressive, its
proposed bill is a terrible patchwork of compromise and ideals. For
this reason HLG is urging its clients to contact their Senators and
tell them to reject this proposal as bad law and terrible policy.
You can contact your Senators with this link. HLG estimates that it
will take less than 7 minutes of your time. Please let your Senators
know how you feel about this dreadful bill.
http://capwiz.com/aila2/callalert/index.tt?alertid=9764951
Specifically, HLG raises these problems with the proposed law:
1. Decimation of Employment-Based Immigration. The proposed
bill eliminates the current employment-based immigration categories
and puts in their place a new "merit-based" point system with
totally inadequate numbers. The point system contains no provisions
for multinational managers, extraordinary ability aliens,
outstanding professors or researchers, Schedule A workers, or those
doing work in the national interest. There would be no labor market
test to protect native-born workers. HLG fails to see the logic in
rewriting one of the few sections of this country’s immigration
policy that actually works well.
2. Little H-1 cap relief. Simply put, the Senate’s CIR does
not raise the H-1 cap high enough. The proposed bill calls for
115,000 new H-1 visas, with a yearly 20% escalator not to exceed
180,000. This year, US employers used 65,000 visas in one day. HLG
admires the market-based escalator clause, but the increase doesn’t
go far enough.
Moreover the Senate seems to have concluded that the H-1 system is
rampant with abuse, even though there are few documented cases of
abuse on record. Among other provisions, the proposed bill will
create a 50-50 rule. The 50-50 rule says that if a US employer has
more than 50 employees, it cannot have more than 50% of its
workforce as an H-1 worker.
The additional protections create added unnecessary burdens on H-1
employer; history has taught us that the abusers will continue to
abuse and that the additional regulation will only serve as a burden
on the good actors. This is not good public policy.
3. Elimination of the Schedule A category. Presently the DOL
has a list of those occupations that are in national short supply.
This list is called Schedule A. For over 30 years, the DOL has found
that immigration for a Schedule A occupation has no impact
whatsoever to US labor.
The Senate's CIR eliminates Schedule A. This is a classic case of
the Congress “solving” a non-problem. The DOL has already identified
shortage occupations – they are on Schedule A. The Senate needs to
make sure that Schedule A continues to exist. The Senate also needs
to provide a reasonable and quick immigration process for these
desperately needed and talented workers.
4. Y visa. This new temporary visa class creates a quasi
slave-trade that will likely result in yet another undocumented
migrant worker "problem" in just a few years. The Y visa allows
non-H-1 workers to enter the US to work for 2 years (often without
allowing their family members). These workers are then compelled to
return to their native country. The Y visa does not become effective
until DHS certifies that the border is secure.
Plainly, workers who come to America will not leave after their 2
year period is over. Anyone close to the immigration issue knows
this to be the case. Congress should go back to the drawing board
and (i) eliminate the '2 years only' requirement; and (ii) allow a
clear path to Permanent Residency. HLG applauds the effort to secure
the border.
A Look Ahead
Contrary to what the popular press is reporting, this bill is still
a long way from becoming law. Already the Senate announced that it
is doubling to two weeks the debate and amendment period for this
bill. Even if the Senate were to act and pass this bill in the next
two weeks, the House of Representatives still has to take up the
measure. The conventional wisdom is that much of the House
leadership is unhappy with the Senate bill. The House may work on
its own version of a CIR, such as the Strive Act, which was a
sensible Comprehensive Immigration Bill that was introduced 60 days
ago.
The House could: (a) seek to pass the Strive Act; (b) simply take
the Senate’s bill and work off of that; (c) introduce a new House
CIR; or (d) do nothing. HLG’s hunch is that (c) is the likely
scenario, but the House CIR will probably have a lot of (a) and (b)
in it. The House could pass a bill in June or maybe early July.
Once the House passes a bill then a “conference” is formed. A
conference is a committee of leading House members and Senators who
are charged with reconciling disparate parts of the House and Senate
bill. The Conference committee would likely take up most of July. If
they completed their work in July we could have a new CIR by August
(Congress breaks for the month of August). Otherwise, the conference
would continue in September and we would likely have a new CIR law
in September or October 2007.
