WASHINGTON — Far-reaching legislation to grant a chance at citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in the United States cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a solid bipartisan vote Tuesday night after supporters somberly sidestepped a controversy over the rights of gay spouses.
I find it interesting that is the spin and take on the bill I've been following all the way.
The 13-5 vote cleared the way for an epic showdown on the Senate floor on the measure, which is one of President Obama’s top domestic priorities yet also gives the Republican Party a chance to recast itself as more appealing to minorities.
The thing is going to pa$$ because of politics, among other rea$ons.
The committee’s action sparked rejoicing from immigration activists....
In addition to creating a pathway to citizenship for 11.5 million immigrants, the legislation creates a new program for low-skilled foreign labor and would permit highly skilled workers into the country at far higher levels than is currently the case.
I'm just wondering what jobs are going to be left Americans, other than the military.
At the same time, it requires the government to take costly new steps to guard against future illegal immigration....
Uh-huh.
In the hours leading to a final vote, the panel also agreed to a last-minute compromise covering an increase in the visa program for high-tech workers, a deal that brought Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, over to the ranks of supporters.
You know, the good jobs you went tens of thousands of dollars into debt to get, American kid.
Under the compromise, the number of highly skilled workers admitted to the country would rise from 65,000 annually to 110,000, with the possibility of a further rise to 180,000, depending in part on unemployment levels.
Firms where foreign labor accounts for at least 15 percent of the skilled workforce would be subjected to tighter conditions than companies less dependent on H-IB visa holders.
The compromise was negotiated by Hatch, whose state is home to a growing high tech industry, and Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York. It is designed to balance the interests of industry, which relies increasingly on skilled foreign labor, and organized labor, which represents American workers.
I don't see how insourcing cheap foreign labor helps American workers.
AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka attacked the deal sharply as ‘‘antiworker,’’ although he also made clear that organized labor would continue to support the overall legislation.
All they got was some pitiful bureaucratic department to monitor the situation. Organized labor has turned into such a disappointment in this country.
Robert Hoffman, senior vice president for government affairs at the Information Technology Industry Council, welcomed the deal.
The issue of same-sex spouses hovered in the background from the start, and as the committee neared the end of its work, officials said Leahy had been informed that both the White House and Senate Democrats hoped he would not risk the destruction of months of painstaking work by putting the issue to a vote.
Wrong moment, wrong bill.
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"Panel OK’s fingerprint mandate for foreigners; Targets those leaving US via major airports" by David Espo | Associated Press, May 21, 2013
WASHINGTON — Senate supporters of far-reaching immigration legislation accepted minor changes in public while negotiating over more sweeping alterations in private Monday as they drove toward expected Judiciary Committee approval by mid-week.
AmeriKan democracy and media at work!
In a long day of drafting, the panel voted to begin phasing in a requirement for foreigners to undergo fingerprinting when they leave the country. Lawmakers also agreed to make an immigrant’s third drunken driving conviction a deportable offense in some cases.
At the same time, officials expressed optimism that agreement was in sight in complex private talks over proposed changes to a section of the legislation relating to H-1B high skilled visas....
Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, whose state is home to a burgeoning high tech industry, sought changes to reduce the cost and other conditions on firms that rely on highly skilled foreign labor.
Meaning restrictions were loosened.
He told reporters he is prepared to support the overall legislation when the committee votes on final passage if an agreement is reached on the issues. ‘‘The way it was written they’re going to move offshore,’’ he said of firms seeking changes.
Already have, already do -- and bringing the workers here doesn't help, sorry.
In general, organized labor and its allies on the committee, including Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, wanted tougher conditions than industry was seeking, part of an attempt to assure that American workers are not disadvantaged by a larger influx of H-1B visa holders.
Labor gets nothing but lip service these days.
At its core, the legislation would provide an opportunity of US citizenship to millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, create a new visa program for low-skilled workers, and permit a sizable increase in the number of high-tech visas. At the same time it mandates new measures to crack down on future unlawful immigration.
So not even the s*** jobs you don't want(?) will be there, kiddo.
The full Senate is expected to begin debate on the legislation next month.
In two previous weeks of deliberations, supporters of the legislation have demonstrated their command over the committee’s proceedings, alternately accepting some proposals advanced by the bill’s critics and rejecting others — all without losing a single showdown.
The same pattern held true as the committee embarked on its third and final week of drafting....
‘‘This is an agreement that we need to build toward a biometric visa exit system,’’ said Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona. He said such a system is ‘‘long overdue.’’
Was the total surveillance system in the brochure?
Most of the committee’s Democrats supported the provision, along with four Republicans. Among them were GOP Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Flake, two of the so-called Gang of Eight that negotiated the bill’s basic framework over many months.
The committee last week rejected a proposal by Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, to impose the fingerprinting requirement at all of the nation’s ports of entry rather than only the biggest airports. He said the system’s partial implementation marked a ‘‘retreat from current law,’’ which already requires a nationwide biometric system. The requirement has not been fulfilled because of the cost.
Any chance of a filibuster?
It appeared unlikely the issue of the high tech visas would be settled formally until Tuesday.
High-tech companies sought a change in the bill’s requirement that they show they have tried to recruit US workers before hiring anyone on an H-1B visa.
That is such a crock of s***.
Hatch’s original proposal would have made the regulation apply only to the firms most heavily dependent on H-1B visas, not on those where 85 percent of the jobs are filled by American citizens.
--more--"
Also see:
What the Immigration Bill i$ Really About
Picking Up the Pace of Immigration Reform
Sunday Globe Special: Immigration Irritation
And the corporations are not happy?
"For technology world, visa bill is flawed; Firms pushing to reduce role of government" by Somini Sengupta | New York Times, May 20, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — The technology industry got much of what it wanted in a bill that would overhaul federal immigration law.
But in the political bargaining, the legislation emerged with provisions the industry considers unappealing. Now its lobbyists are feverishly working to get rid of them.
This is such a corporate-controlled government it makes one $ick.
Whether it gets its way could shape, in part, the fate of the overall package — and with it, the fate of millions of migrants.
The industry achieved its main goals in the draft Senate bill: easing the green card process and expanding the number of visas for skilled guest workers. That draft, though, includes language that it considers excessive regulatory oversight of when a company can hire a temporary foreign worker and lay off an existing American worker.
So they made it easier to lay-off Americans.
Also see: The More Illegal Immigrants That Go On Food Stamps The More Money JP Morgan Makes
That's for the recently-amnestied illegal, not you, American. You are facing cuts in the food stamp program.
Silicon Valley companies say such language would effectively keep them from using the larger numbers of temporary work permits, known as H-1B visas. They also warn of more jobs being shipped overseas. They are backing proposed amendments that would reverse those provisions.
How many more can be shipped there?
“The amendments are very important because they allow high-tech companies to use the visas as intended rather than creating regulations that make it so difficult they cannot practically be used,’’ the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which includes IBM and Oracle, said in a statement. It added that most technology companies already hire a preponderance of American workers.
But?
‘‘Companies are willing to show they have tried to hire Americans, but we want to do it in a way that works with their current hiring practices and does not place a heavy administrative burden on them,’’ the statement continued. ‘‘The more difficult it is to get H-1B visas, the more likely that jobs will go abroad because there is no American that fits the needed skill set.’’
No, the kids are too busy being indoctrinated in politically-correct dogma.
The industry has a powerful ally in Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah. His vote for the bill in the Judiciary Committee is coveted because it is expected to give the legislation crucial conservative support. He has filed several amendments that technology companies favor but that other senators, who insist on additional protections for US workers, have resisted....
Critics of Silicon Valley counter that its demands could imperil the overhaul, including the fate of millions of migrants who stand to gain legal papers.
How can the tech companies threaten to kill comprehensive legislation ‘‘when it contains almost all they have said they wanted?’’ said Bruce Morrison, a former chairman of the House immigration committee who now lobbies for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. ‘‘All of America should lose the good the bill does so that they can fire Americans and replace them with H-1Bs? Ridiculous.’’
Greed?
Also see: Sunday Globe Special: H1-B Hijacking
Just forget about that.
The industry is unlikely to actively sabotage the bill if it does not get its way. It could, though, stop supporting the cause, as it has enthusiastically done this year.
Fine.
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Related: Immigrants — the lifeline of a town
UPDATE:
"The findings also reflect the increasing economic importance of foreign-born residents as the US ponders an immigration law overhaul. Without new immigrants, metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis would have posted flat or negative population growth in the last year. With a slowly improving US economy, young adults are now back on the move."
So am I.
Related: Immigrants — the lifeline of a town
UPDATE:
"The findings also reflect the increasing economic importance of foreign-born residents as the US ponders an immigration law overhaul. Without new immigrants, metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis would have posted flat or negative population growth in the last year. With a slowly improving US economy, young adults are now back on the move."
So am I.
