massive worker visa bill possible this week
massive worker visa bill possible this week
Date: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 3:34 AM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1914 -- 9/10/2008 >>>>>
Congress plans to hand out large numbers of employment based green cards by
recapturing visas from previous years that were not issued. If the House
passes the bill, as many as 550,000 workers could come into the U.S. as well
as their families. The bill, is H.R. 5882: "To recapture employment-based
immigrant visas lost to bureaucratic delays and to prevent losses of family-
and employment-based immigrant visas in the future."
OK, so here is the really bad news -- THE BILL COULD PASS AS EARLY AS TODAY!
To read the bill go here:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-5882
Any and all of these awful pieces of immigration legislation will be up for
consideration:
1) H.R. 5882 -- gives green cards to 550,000 foreign workers and their
extended families.
2) H.R. 5924 -- lifts the cap for foreign nurses and therapists until 2011.
3) H.R. 5950 -- would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to
give full medical and mental health care to all immigration alien detainees in
DHS custody.
4) H.R. 6020 -- would grant amnesty to illegal aliens who serve in the
military. It will also give amnesty to their families.
Three articles are included below.
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http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/september-7-2008/us-house-leaders-plan-vote-big-foreign-w.html
US House Leaders Plan Vote on Big Foreign Worker Increase This Week -- Despite
5-Year Unemployment High
By Roy Beck, Sunday, September 7, 2008, 5:42 PM
Here's another entry in the contest to find out whether many politicians are
just stupid or are cynically evil:
THE CRISIS: The feds announced last week that our official unemployment rate
has soared to 6.1%, the highest since September 2003.
THE CARING RESPONSE IN WORDS: Anticipating and reacting to the economic
uncertainty in so many households, both Presidential Nominating Conventions
were full of promises to help the beleaguered American worker.
THE ACTUAL STAB IN THE BACK: But this week, we get to see what ACTIONS the
politicians plan for us. First out of the blocks, the Democratic Leadership of
the U.S. House of Representatives is responding this week by trying to shove
through a bill -- H.R. 5882 -- which would provide about 550,000 permanent
green cards to foreign workers next year. And those would be ABOVE the 1
million permanent green cards already planned!
Folks, this is not just rhetoric. This is the House leadership trying to pass
this bill to permanently give away hundreds of thousands more American jobs to
foreign workers.
Unless you make a phone call before Wednesday, this legislation is almost
guaranteed to pass because it is backed by the richest, most powerful
corporate lobbying interests in town, by the House Democratic leadership and
by a large number of corporate-lobby-inspired Republicans.
AMERICANS NEED JOBS -- NOT FOREIGN WORKERS Let's take a quick look at the
employment statistics that don't seem to matter to Members of Congress who are
pushing H.R. 5882:
The official unemployment rate soared 0.4 percentage point to 6.1%, the
highest since September 2003. The unemployment rate was under 5% as recently
as February. Remember that the unemployment rate only measures those who are
looking for work and can't find it. Millions more have just stopped looking.
342,000 jobs were simply eliminated throughout the economy last month. And
the number of people officially looking for work and unable to find it rose by
592,000.
Manufacturing firms cut 61,000 jobs, the biggest drop since July 2003.
Construction employment was down by 8,000.
Service-sector employment fell 27,000.
Business and professional services companies shed 53,000 jobs--the seventh
drop in eight months.
Retail trade cut 19,900 payrolls, the ninth-straight decline.
Even temporary employment fell by 36,900.
With that kind of news, what kind of person would schedule a vote this week to
offer an EXTRA 550,000 permanent green cards next year? Read on.
REP. ZOE LOFGREN IS THE ENEMY OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS There are so many Members
of Congress who work primarily for the interests of the cheap-labor lobbyists,
it is difficult to single out just one to be the face of all that is idiotic,
cynical and callous about our immigration policies.
But Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) gets to be that face this week. She is chair
of the House immigration subcommittee. She long has served on that committee,
doing the bidding of the corporations in her Silicon Valley District.
But her decision to move H.R. 5882 through the Judiciary Committee is not just
about getting more higher skilled foreign workers instead of hiring American
tech workers.
No, this time she's bringing in foreign workers to take nearly every kind of
job in America. The only criteria really is that you have a couple of years
experience in the type of job you would be taking from an American worker.
These 550,000 extra greencards would be for engineers, health workers,
construction workers, service workers, manufacturing workers -- well, they
would go to foreign workers who do all the kinds of jobs that have been
disappearing!
If you -- or anybody you know -- works in any of these sectors, you had better
act fast because Rep. Lofgren and her followers have every intention of giving
away more of the declining number of jobs in your occupations.
If there were any sanity or compassion for struggling American workers,
Congress would not be considering increasing greencards but instead would be
considering reducing the already high 1 million greencards a year to something
more like the traditional average of just a quarter-million.
Feel free to call Rep. Lofgren and express your opinion through the
congressional switchboard at:
202-224-3121
You can also use that number to reach your own Representative and ask if
he/she is aware of the insanity planned for the House Judiciary Committee this
week.
And be sure to check your Action Buffet corkboard for other actions you can
take.
FALSE PRETENSES FOR PUSHING H.R. 5882
Rep. Lofgren and other pushers of H.R. 5882 think they have come up with a
really clever way to get around the general public opposition to immigration
increases.
Their gimmick is "Recapturing Unused Employer-Sponsored Visas."
You see, the law was changed in 1990 to triple the number of employer-
sponsored permanent immigrants each year. The upper limit was set at 140,000.
In fact, the feds have violated that limit several times since 1990 and given
away more than 140,000 of these greencards. But in some years, they also have
issued fewer than 140,000.
The cheap-labor lobbyists came up with the idea to "recapture" the greencards
that weren't issued just in the years when the numbers fell below 140,000.
First of all, the law is written so that "unused" visas in one category are
figured into how greencards are given in another category the following year.
By current law, there are NO "unused visas."
But there is an even more important matter here. The cap was set at the
extremely high level of 140,000. But, still, there is a cap. There is not a
floor. That is, the feds can decide in any given year that it would not be
good for American workers to give out all 140,000 permanent work visas. And
the cap is there to keep businesses from getting so many foreign workers in a
single year that they traumatize a whole section of American workers. The
cheap-labor lobbyists claim there are 550,000 greencards that weren't given
out during certain of the last 18 years and that they should be given that
many extra foreign workers next year.
Every Member of the House Judiciary Committee should be phoned and told that
592,000 additional Americans were thrown onto the official unemployment rolls
last month (and that doesn't count the millions already unemployed), and that
the 550,000 jobs that H.R. 5882 would give to foreign workers ought to go to
the unemployed Americans.
And please don't let the congressional staff tell you that these foreign
workers are needed because unemployed Americans are looking for different
kinds of jobs.
These 550,000 greencards would go to virtually every kind of foreign worker.
And virtually every kind American worker is losing jobs right now.
ROY BECK is the founder and CEO of NumbersUSA.
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http://www.rightsidenews.com/200809091909/border-and-sovereignty/congress-to-resume-consideration-of-five-immigration-bills.html
Congress to Resume Consideration of Five Immigration Bills September 9, 2008
FAIR With just over three weeks remaining in the 110th session of Congress,
sources on the Hill note that Democratic leadership in both chambers will
attempt passage of five immigration-related bills. The House Judiciary
Committee will consider four bills, while the Senate will take up
reauthorization of E-Verify - the online, electronically operated system that
allows employers to check the work authorization status of their new hires.
Legislation to be considered when the House Judiciary Committee meets this
week includes: H.R. 5882; H.R. 5924; H.R. 5950; and H.R. 6020.
H.R. 5882 would "recapture" visas that the State Department did not issue in
fiscal years 1992 through 2007. (Gallery Watch, August 1, 2008) Ranking Member
of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border
Security and International Law Steve King (R-IA) has called this measure
"fatally flawed," pointing out that the total number of "recaptured"
employment-based and family-sponsored visas would amount to more than 555,000.
(Id.) H.R. 5924 addresses perceived worker shortages in nursing and therapy
fields by lifting the cap on employment-based visas for physical therapists
and nurses until 2011. Rep. King has also expressed opposition to this bill,
arguing that it would only exacerbate a shortage of nurses in other countries.
King has said that the nursing shortage in the United States can be attributed
to a lack of teachers at the graduate nursing level, a problem that won't be
solved by "throwing money at it." (Id.) H.R. 5950 would require the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) "to establish procedures for the delivery of
medical and mental health care to all immigration detainees in...DHS custody."
(Congressional Research Service Summary, May 1, 2008) These procedures would
be required to provide care that addresses "all detainee health needs." (Id.)
H.R. 6020 would grant any person who served honorably as a member of the U.S.
armed forces in certain "contingency operations" the opportunity to become a
naturalized citizen. (See H.R. 6020; Congressional Research Service Summary,
May 8, 2008) Sections 4 and 6 of the bill waive several inadmissibility
standards for aliens who served or are serving honorably in the military. The
waiver also extends to their families, including parents and siblings. This
means that an illegal alien, with a family member in the military, would be
eligible for lawful permanent resident status. The categories of admissibility
waived include the likelihood of becoming a public charge, entering the U.S.
illegally for employment, entering the U.S. without permission, and presence
in the U.S. without proper documentation. (H.R. 6020, Sec. 4(c) and Sec. 6(d))
The American Legion, which has expressed opposition to the bill, testified in
May: "This would seem to reward law breakers and - possibly - illegal
immigrants with a short cut to citizenship that is nothing less than an
official pardon for illegal acts: an amnesty." (Testimony to Congress, May 20,
2008) On the Senate side, Congressional Quarterly (CQ) has reported that
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is expected to bring a five-year E-
Verify reauthorization to the floor at some point in September. The bill -
H.R.
6633, the Employee Verification Amendment Act - overwhelmingly passed the
House by a vote of 407 to 2 just prior to the August recess. In addition to
the five-year reauthorization, H.R. 6633 contains language requiring DHS and
the Social Security Administration to enter into a reimbursement agreement in
regards to funding the operation of E-Verify. (Sec. 3(a)) The legislation also
requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct two studies on E-
Verify to determine what causes errors in non-confirmations and the economic
impact of the program on small businesses. (Sec. 5 and 6)
Several other E-Verify reauthorizations have been proposed in the Senate,
including S. 3257, sponsored by Arlen Specter (R-PA), which would extend E-
Verify for five years and reauthorize several other visa categories. (CQ Today
Online News, August 21, 2008; S. 3257) Senator Robert D. Menendez
(D-NJ) - who has put a legislative hold on Specter's bill - has introduced S.
3414 which reauthorizes E-Verify for five years, but also includes a provision
that would recapture visas that the State Department did not issue in fiscal
years 1992 through 2007. (CQ Today Online News, August 21, 2008; S. 3414 Sec.
2) CQ reports that Menendez supports H.R. 6633 and that Specter, along with
other Republicans, has petitioned Majority Leader Reid to bring forward an E-
Verify reauthorization free of other programs. (Id.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13253.html
Tech industry launches lobbying blitz
By: Chris Frates
September 8, 2008 04:52 PM EST
With months of hard work on the line, the high-tech industry orchestrated an
intense lobbying blitz over the August recess to persuade lawmakers to pass
tax credits this month for renewable energy and research and development
projects.
In their push for the tax credits, the techies have many friends.
Businesses, investors, environmental and labor groups, trade associations and
utilities all back the credits. And the Clean Energy Now coalition sees the
next three weeks as critical.
"We are looking at September as the last, best chance," said the Sierra Club s
top lobbyist, Melinda Pierce, who s been helping lead the coalition s push.
Before the August recess, supporters sensed that lawmakers were close to a
deal when the debate over offshore drilling threw it off track. But with
energy still looming large as a national issue, supporters sense an
opportunity, especially with Democratic leaders talking about addressing it
before Congress breaks for the fall campaign, Pierce said.
Coalition members have been busy calling, e-mailing and visiting lawmakers.
On Aug. 21, about 200 organizations sent letters to House and Senate leaders
of both parties, asking them to extend the renewable tax credits in September.
The Sierra Club has urged its members to contact their lawmakers, write
letters to the editor, attend town hall meetings and set up in-district
meetings with local lawmakers, Pierce said.
"We thought putting on the human face, putting the constituent calls out would
be a very powerful counter to -- the oil and gas advertising that is all over
the districts," Pierce said.
Still, the renewable coalition is advertising as well. Clean Energy Now bought
ads in newspapers in Denver and St. Paul, Minn., the cities that hosted the
Democratic and Republican national conventions.
It also placed ads in convention editions of Capitol Hill publications and
hosted events in both convention cities, said Gregory Wetstone, the American
Wind Energy Association s senior director for government and public affairs.
"People begin to start reengaging at the conventions," Wetstone said.
In September, the coalition is planning to run more ads inside the Beltway,
including in the Metro subway system. The wind association will also be paying
for sponsorships on National Public Radio and bringing in chief executives to
make their own pitches, Wetstone said.
Tech companies are also fighting for research and development tax credits that
fund work in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and other fields.
In July, the R&D Credit Coalition sent letters to congressional leaders from
more than 2,000 employees whose jobs largely depend on the credit.
From 75 percent to 90 percent of the R&D tax credits are used for salaries,
said coalition spokesman Jim Hock.
The group s members visited more than 75 lawmakers offices over the
congressional break. And, he said, senior executives will continue to call
lawmakers urging them to pass the credit.
"Research is the foundation of our innovation economy, and this credit is a
critical tool to make sure that America s companies are more competitive vis-
`-vis their global competition," Hock said.
Immigration is also on the community s radar. Tech companies and others have
been pushing legislation to allow the federal government to roll over unused
green cards from year to year. The State Department estimates there are
500,000 unused green cards, dating back to 1990, said Robert Hoffman, co-
chairman of Compete America, a coalition that lobbies for high-skilled
immigration reform.
"If it works for AT&T [cell phone plans], it ll work for the federal
government. It ll work for green card holders," Hoffman said. "We re not
increasing legal immigration by one visa. We re just ensuring that every
available visa is used every year."
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) is sponsoring the measure that passed the House
Judiciary Committee s immigration subcommittee before recess. And Hoffman said
his group hopes it will go before the full panel in September. Sen.
Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is pushing similar legislation in the Senate.
To build support for the immigration proposals, Hoffman has pressed his case
at major newspaper editorial boards and encouraged coalition members to
contact their local lawmakers and meet with congressional staff members on
Capitol Hill.
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