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The Coalition for the Future American Worker, made up of groups that back stricter immigration limits, will begin running a newspaper ad lobbying Congress this week to oppose the changes.
The bill first must clear the Senate and then go to a House-Senate conference committee, and some House members said they will try to ensure the provision isn't included in any final bill.
"We don't expect there to be any immigration provisions in reconciliation. This is not the time or place for controversial immigration provisions," said Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas Republican.
Mr. Smith said party leaders will have a difficult enough time passing the budget bill without adding immigration to the list of issues covered.
"We're going to need every Republican we can get to pass it," he said.
The House budget bill does not raise immigration levels. Instead, the House Judiciary Committee met its budget-cutting goal by increasing the fee for L-1 visas, another temporary-worker program, by $1,500.
The Senate debate on legal immigration comes even as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, announced last week that the Senate would take up broad immigration reform early next year.
The overall bill is expected to tackle legal and illegal immigration, border security and interior immigration enforcement.
Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Mr. Frist, said he supports the legal immigration increases but considers them "a temporary stopgap measure."
"Recapturing old, unused visas will only help satisfy some of the current excess demand for highly skilled workers, but at some point even this pool of recaptured visas will be exhausted," Mrs. Call said.
The bill also increases H-1B visas from 65,000 to 95,000 in fiscal 2006 and raises the fee employers pay by $500.
More Info immigration-law.com
The bill first must clear the Senate and then go to a House-Senate conference committee, and some House members said they will try to ensure the provision isn't included in any final bill.
"We don't expect there to be any immigration provisions in reconciliation. This is not the time or place for controversial immigration provisions," said Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas Republican.
Mr. Smith said party leaders will have a difficult enough time passing the budget bill without adding immigration to the list of issues covered.
"We're going to need every Republican we can get to pass it," he said.
The House budget bill does not raise immigration levels. Instead, the House Judiciary Committee met its budget-cutting goal by increasing the fee for L-1 visas, another temporary-worker program, by $1,500.
The Senate debate on legal immigration comes even as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, announced last week that the Senate would take up broad immigration reform early next year.
The overall bill is expected to tackle legal and illegal immigration, border security and interior immigration enforcement.
Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Mr. Frist, said he supports the legal immigration increases but considers them "a temporary stopgap measure."
"Recapturing old, unused visas will only help satisfy some of the current excess demand for highly skilled workers, but at some point even this pool of recaptured visas will be exhausted," Mrs. Call said.
The bill also increases H-1B visas from 65,000 to 95,000 in fiscal 2006 and raises the fee employers pay by $500.
More Info immigration-law.com