Senate Considers H-1B increase
Senate Considers H-1B increase
Date: Saturday, October 15, 2005 2:02 PM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
by Rob Sanchez
October 15, 2005 No. 1347
On October 20, 2005 a Senate Judiciary will consider allowing 60,000 more H-1B visas to be issued per year for the next five years. That will be in addition to the 65,000 a year cap plus the 20,000 exemptions approved in last year's omnibus spending bill.
The motivation behind this increase is to help pay for the federal budget deficit. By authorizing 60,000 new H-1B visas, and a new $500 fee to go with them, Congress expects to raise $30 million dollars annually to off-set spending in other parts of the federal budget. The profits from visa fees are traditionally used to supplement the budget for enforcement or education but this time the money will go directly into the general operating budget.
If you decide to call the Senators on the Judiciary committee, be sure to tell them that their plan to raise money is like robbing Peter to save Paul. That's because the money they will make on visa fees will be offset by the loss of revenue that occurs when an American loses his/her job.
I also urge everyone to demand that complete transcripts of the meetings should be promptly put online. On July 26, 2005 the Judiciary met to discuss guest-worker bills but to this day the transcripts of the Senator's statements haven't been made public, even though within days the transcripts of all the other guests were put online. This obscuration not tolerated because the public has a right to know what these Senators are up to.
Go to this link to see the blank transcripts of the July 26th meeting:
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1588
Listed below are two notices about this judiciary meeting, one from the IEEE and one from immigration attorney Fragomen.
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The Senate Judiciary Committee is seriously considering raising the H-1B cap by 60k. The driver is $s. They want the fees from the additional visas so they can make up a budget shortfall.
Arlen Specter is the brainchild of this...The key senators are Specter and Kennedy. Kennedy is hot on this one.
Grassley has been leading the opposition to a rise in the cap.
Here's a list of the members of Judiciary Committee.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/members.cfm
Arlen Specter
CHAIRMAN, PENNSYLVANIA
Orrin G. Hatch
UTAH
Patrick J. Leahy
RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER, VERMONT
Charles E. Grassley
IOWA
Edward M. Kennedy
MASSACHUSETTS
Jon Kyl
ARIZONA
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
DELAWARE
Mike DeWine
OHIO
Herbert Kohl
WISCONSIN
Jeff Sessions
ALABAMA
Dianne Feinstein
CALIFORNIA
Lindsey Graham
SOUTH CAROLINA
Russell D. Feingold
WISCONSIN
John Cornyn
TEXAS
Charles E. Schumer
NEW YORK
Sam Brownback
KANSAS
Richard J. Durbin
ILLINOIS
Tom Coburn
OKLAHOMA
Letters opposing this would be helpful.
Here's the IEEE-USA Action Alert:
With time running out on this year's legislative session, Congress is rushing to finalize the 2006 budget. One of the problems Congress confronts is paying for new federal spending without greatly enlarging the federal deficit. Some members of the Senate Judiciary Committee think they may have found a way to do that. By authorizing 60,000 new H-1B visas, and a new $500 fee to go with them, Congress expects to raise $30 million dollars annually to off-set spending in other parts of
the federal budget.
IEEE-USA continues to believe that the H-1B visa program is seriously flawed. It no longer serves its original purpose, which was to allow U.S. employers to recruit highly skilled professionals from overseas when there was a shortage of U.S. workers. Visa quotas are not tied to unemployment levels for U.S. high-tech workers or other shortage indicators. In the first quarter of FY 2005, H-1Bs visas were used to hire lifeguards, office managers, welders and even interns. There are no
requirements in the current H-1B program that U.S. workers be recruited before H-1Bs are issued, and the prevailing wage requirement is weak and unenforceable. The Department of Labor has given employers permission to use H-1B visas for electrical engineering positions paying as low as
$10.00 per hour.
Not only are hardworking foreign workers who are eager to realize the opportunities provided by America exploited, but they have no clear path towards citizenship, since the H-1B is a non-immigrant visa. In short, because the H-1B program is so poorly designed, virtually any company can use the visas to fill any position at almost any salary level, harming both American and international workers.
Until the flaws in the program are fixed so that U.S. and foreign workers are protected, IEEE-USA believes that Congress should not raise the visa cap in any way. Tinkering with the program should only be done after careful deliberation, not buried in unrelated legislation just to close a short-term budget gap.
If Congress must raise additional money, some members of Congress have suggested simply raising the fee on existing L visas. IEEE-USA would prefer this solution.
Influential members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including the Chair, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), are supporting the H-1B measure. Some business groups have also expressed support. A few other members of the committee are skeptical. If the committee votes to support the bill,keeping it out of law will be very difficult. The best time to oppose the change is NOW, before it is formally endorsed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Here's a sample letter:
I recently learned that there is a proposal in the Senate to create 60,000 new H-1B visas as part of this year's budget process. I want to express my strong opposition to this plan and urge you to oppose it. As an engineer, I worry about America's long-term ability to innovate when my government promotes policies that make engineering careers an unattractive choice for American citizens. Increasing the H-1B visa cap will not strengthen our high-tech economy. America needs a long-term strategy for encouraging innovation, not a short term budget fix paid for by the very workers we are depending on to drive innovation.
The H-1B visa program is a deeply flawed program. Conceived to give American employers access to the best and brightest workers from around the world while protecting American workers, it has not always been used for that purpose. Increasingly, the visas are being used to fill mundane jobs that require no specialized skills at all. For example, the Department of Labor approved applications this year to hire lifeguards, office managers, security guards and even interns with H-1B visas.
Worse, despite assurances that all H-1B workers will be paid the prevailing American wage, there are numerous examples where this simply is not happening. For example, the DOL approved an H-1B application for an electrical engineering position paying $10.00 earlier this year. Let me assure you that highly-educated engineers make considerably more than $10.00 per hour in this country.
When you look at how the H-1B visa program is frequently being used, rather than the rhetoric used to describe the program, you see that the visas are used to fill jobs that have nothing do with the original intent of the law and pay wages far below what Americans earn. Until these flaws in the program are fixed, it makes no sense to expand the program further.
I understand that the Senate is considering raising the cap as a way of raising additional funds to help shrink the deficit. If Congress needs to raise additional funds, perhaps you could simply raise the fees charged for existing visas, including L visas. Such a solution would be much better for workers and the US economy.
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http://pubweb.fdbl.com/news1.nsf/0/2ed1d2a76a6f627d852570930074ed00?OpenDocument
Senate Committee to Consider Immigration Relief Provisions
New Fees Would Also Be Imposed
As a result of budget reconciliation discussions, the Senate Judiciary Committee has indicated that it will be considering language for inclusion in a budget bill that would increase the availability of green card and H-1B visa numbers and impose new fees. As part of Congress's budget reconciliation process, each committee in the House and the Senate is tasked with raising revenues or cutting spending. The reconciliation process begins with the inclusion in a budget resolution of instructions to each committee to change spending and revenue laws. The green card and H-1B provisions emerged yesterday in the context of budget reconciliation discussions and are scheduled to get a first formal examination by the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 20, 2005.
In a related move, the House Judiciary Committee recently voted in favor of a bill that would impose a $1,500 fee on each L-1 intracompany transferee worker. The arguably more helpful Senate initiative, which would add new green card and H-1B benefits as well as new fees, has been offered as an alternative to the House-backed L-1 fee.
If enacted, the provisions would allow for the recapture of unused green card and H-1B specialty occupation visa numbers from past years, and would permit certain foreign nationals to file applications for adjustment of status to permanent residence, even if subject to visa backlogs. An additional $500 fee would be assessed on employment-based immigrant petitions as well as on H-1B petitions filed for the recaptured pool of numbers. We have been able to obtain a copy of the proposed language and we summarize it in more detail below.
Please note that the final shape and form of the ultimate legislation may be quite different from the proposal described below as provisions are amended, added and subtracted, and House and Senate bills are reconciled.
Recapture of Unused Immigrant Visa Numbers
Currently, the worldwide number of employment-based immigrant visas available during a given fiscal year amounts to approximately 140,000 (although this number can fluctuate in years when unused family-based immigrant visas trickle down into the employment category). The 140,000 figure includes visas issued to principal beneficiaries of I-140 immigrant worker petitions and to their spouses and children.
The proposed language would provide that the worldwide level of employment-based immigrant visas would include the sum of (1) a baseline pool of 140,000 visas; (2) the number of unused family-based immigrant visas from the previous fiscal year; and (3) the number of unused employment-based immigrant visas from all previous fiscal years (excluding visas allocated to "Schedule A" categories) or 90,000, whichever is less.
Spouses and children would no longer be counted against the overall limit, which in itself would free up a substantial number of visas. Finally, all I-140 petitions would be subject to a "supplemental petition fee" of $500, on top of the normal filing fee.
Adjustment of Status
The proposed language would also provide that an individual for whom an I-140 immigrant visa petition with supplemental $500 fee is filed may file an adjustment of status application even if a visa number is not immediately available. The adjustment application can still not be approved until a visa number is available (i.e., until the beneficiary's priority date is current), but the filing of an adjustment application presumably entitles the applicant to the ancillary benefits of an adjustment filing, including eligibility for an employment authorization document (EAD) and an advance parole travel document. Beneficiaries of I-140 petitions which are pending on the date the law is enacted may, upon the payment of the supplemental petition fee, take advantage of the opportunity to file an adjustment application even if their priority dates are not yet current. However, the bill would appear to preclude beneficiaries of previously approved I-140 petitions from benefiting from the opportunity of applying for adjustment of status under this provision.
Recapture of Unused H-1B Visa Numbers
The provisions would also allow for the recapture of unused H-1B numbers going back to the effective date of the Immigration Act of 1990 (October 1, 1991), which is the legislation that first created the current H-1B visa category. It is estimated that there may be as many as 300,000 unused H-1B numbers available, and they would be released at the rate of 60,000 per year once the annual statutory cap of 65,000 is reached. An employer seeking to have a recaptured H-1B visa allocated to a prospective worker would be required to pay an H-1B recapture fee of $500.
Conclusion
The business community is in the process of examining the proposed language and will be meeting in the near future to discuss overall strategy and to investigate the possibility of adding other related provisions. We will continue to provide updates as these provisions make their way through the legislative process and the business community assesses its position.
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