Comprehensive Immigration Reforms

Another update from immigration law website

01/03/2007: Bush Hopes to Work with the New Congress In Priority Areas Including Comprehensive Immigration Reform

  • On January 3, 2007, Bush released a statement to address his wish to work with the 110th Congress in the areas of the nation's priorities. We welcome his position to include the comprehensive immigration as one of the priorities in the agenda. Read on.
  • Since the 110th Congress under the Democrat control opens tomorrow, it is a timely gesture from the White House to work with the Congress rather than to confront with the Congress in addressing the nation's priorities. One of the top goals of the new Congress should be to work as a "working" Congress through the partisan comromises rather than confrontations and not to repeat despicable 109th Congress behaviours that had turned every legislative bill into the partisan confrontration without any effort to compromise. One of the basic and fundamental principles in a democratic system is giving due deference to the voice of "minority" in the Congress and work out legislation through compromise. The rule of the majority without compromise is a dictatorship rather than a democracy. Every dictatorship has been characterized as a rule of "majority" at least institutionally. The new majority party leaders in the Congress should learn the basic principles of the American democracy and try to work with the opposite party rather than confront with the other side in handling the nation's top priority businesses.
  • The new House majority leader, Madam Pelosi, did not include the immigration legislation in the top priority for the first 100-day business, but the Senate is poised to introduce a new comprehensive immigration bill soon after the new Congress opens and it is hoped that she attempts to "collaborate" with the Senate and the White House in the immigration legislation by including the immigration as one of the top legislative items in the first 100-day agenda of the House.
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CIR - Expected Timeline

... from immigration law website
01/14/2007: Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation Likely Timeline
  • Report indicates that the House and Senate special panel has been working hard to work out the new Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislative bill. As everyone knows, this panel is led by Sen. McCain and S. Kenndy on the Senate side. It appears that the panel is targeting at introducing the bill first by March and pushing to pass the Senate by April, and the House then takes over the Senate passed bill and attempts to pass it quickly. We will have to wait and see whether or not this scenario will work as planned, but because of the changed political landscape, it is general opinion and concensus in the media and political circles that unlike the tragic experiences in the past few years, it will have a much better chance to make it this time on. If it fails to make it through as scheduled, the chance of the bill will turn slimmer because of the emerging 2008 national election politics and heat of passions involving politics. The AgJOBS bill which will legalize approximately 1.5 million farm workers on H-2A visa status currently receives a very strong support from legislators in both sides of the aisle, even though there is some difference between the White House and the Congress when it comes to the details. It is unknown whether this bill will eventually turn into a part of the CIR. AgJOBS bill is already nicknamed "Temporary Guest Worker" bill!
  • As for the Appropriation bills for the federal departments other than Defense and DHS, since Continuing Resolution to temporarily fund these departments will expire on February 15, 2007, there is expected some legislative activity to pass some of the minor immigration bills including H-1B reform as part of the appropriation legislative process. Please stay tuned.
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Prospects of the immigration bills ...

... as explained in immigration law website

01/15/2007: Employment-Based Immigration Reform and Key Issues

For the last two years, the employment-based immigration reform proposals focused on the following four key issues. Depending on how the specifics were presented for each of these four key issues, each proposal had created several groups whose interests would have been differently affected. Let's review these key issues:
  • Total EB-Numbers Subject to Numberial Limitation: Different proposals presented different numbers, ranging from 290,000 to 640,000 (current number: 140,000). However, a careful analysis will reveal that the total number itself can be misleading when it comes to different groups of EB-immigrants depending on how the following three other factors are presented.
  • Allocation of Total Numbers to Each Preference Categories (EB-1 through EB-5): The CIR which the Senate passed last year changed the allocation system reducing the % of allocation for EB-1 and EB-2 and drastically increasing the % for EB-3 in anticipation of the illegal alien legalization and guest workers immigration programs. On the surface, it gave the impression that the CIR was only in favor of the illegal aliens and such allocation would have hurted other legal EB-immigrants. But that was not necessarily true. For instance, the so-called SKIL bill which was introduced separately from the CIR (unlike the SKIL bill which was also incorporated in the CIR being subject to the new allocation system under the CIR) provided in favor of the EB-1 and EB-2 immigrant in allocations at the cost of EB-3 immigrants for the two reasons, among others. First the SKIL bill proposed to create certain aliens who fitted mostly to EB-1 and EB-2 exempt from annual visa number limitations, while no such exemption was offered to the EB-3 immigrants. Considering the fact that the total EB number which was proposed was relatively small (290,000), the benefit to the EB-3 immigrants would have been unfairly dispropotional. Accordingly, for the EB-3 immigrants, CIR would have been much better than SKIL bill, assuming that there were no legalization proposals in the CIR. In coming months, people should watch carefully not only the total numbers for EB but also internal distribution among different preferences.
  • Groups Exempt from Annual Numerical Limitation: Two groups were noticeable affecting the different groups of immigrants differently. One was excemption of the spouses and children from the numerial limitation. This exemption would have practically increased the total allocation for EB-based immigrant quota tremendously, way beyond the number shown above. The second group is those with Advanced degrees or medical field. As explained earlier, the exempt of these latter group from the numerical limitation de facto increased the EB-1 and EB-2 to a greater extent than the simple numbers allocated for EB-1 or EB-2 preference categories. Since this country has been moving toward the direction limiting the educated immigrants to the advanced degree holders, it is almost certain that a similar provision may be offered in the coming comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
  • Availability of I-485 Application for I-140 Approved Immigrants Whose Visa Numbers Are Unavailable: This provision will give a tremendous help to those who will continuously suffer from the visa number retrogression. However, there are a couple of the groups in the mainstream America that may resist to such proposal. One is certain groups of employers. Since this will drastically expand the mobility of the EB immigrants using AC-21 180-day change of employment benefits, the labor market will become somewhat unstable from the perspectives of the employers. The second group is anti-immigration groups who may argue that such provision would open a flood gate to foreign labor forces disrupting the American labor market, since the aleins who would be able to join in the labor market will increase substantially. However, it would be an unfounded fear in that these aliens may already be particiting in the American labor market forces, even though in nonimmigrant status.
We hope that the upcoming comprehensive immigration reform bill would cover most of the employment-based immigration provisions under the previous CIR which the Senate passed last year.
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gcwhenever said:
They have already introduced Agjobs bill:

http://www.farmworkerjustice.org/Immigration_Labor/AGdocs/FJAgJobsSummaryLg1-2007.pdf

They are giving permanent residency to farmers who have been working legally for 5 years. What about us who have been working for 5+ years?
And they are allowed to change employers, leave the US and re-enter at any time.
We dont even have that.

totally unfair to us :mad: :mad: :mad:
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Yes, it is too sad that we did not decide to become farmers before coming to USA. :p WHAT IF SOMEBODY CAN PROVE THAT S/HE IS FARMER ON PAPER?
 
So Sad

gcwhenever said:
They have already introduced Agjobs bill:

http://www.farmworkerjustice.org/Immigration_Labor/AGdocs/FJAgJobsSummaryLg1-2007.pdf

They are giving permanent residency to farmers who have been working legally for 5 years. What about us who have been working for 5+ years?
And they are allowed to change employers, leave the US and re-enter at any time.
We dont even have that.

totally unfair to us :mad: :mad: :mad:
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This is so sad for knowledge workers. Not that farmers do not deserve fair treatment... Professionals like us, who contribute as much as, if not more than, farmers to the US soceity need fair treatment as well. Sad, sad, sad... Is this a country that people like you and me really want to live?

When my friends asked me about America, I told them not to come. Rather, go to Canada. You still there for 3 years and you will get citizenship. You can find a job in the U.S. if you want. You are much freer and happier being a Canadian than being an American's H1B "slave".
 
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It looks like MS Nanci Palosy and team has put CIR to the back burner shelf..Now come the 2008 election race... I see 2010 the year they will take this matter in hand for not to resolve.
 
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