Now is the TIME to ACT!
I have posted two times in the past few days to give some ideas to the regulars in the forum to get a movement going. But I haven’t heard any feedback, and I so I am going to take the initiative to get this done myself.
While there are quite a few movements out there (Compete America etc.) there is nothing directly represented by the H1Bs waiting for their GC- who look for faster processing times and the availability of visa numbers. There is a group called Techworkers @ yahoo groups, but their focus is on mailing letters and calling up lawmakers.
As I have said before, all efforts are good efforts, however to get our voices heard we need to raise some serious money and effectively use a lobbying firm to represent us well. The Bush administration is serious to get out an Immigration bill, but their focus is on the status of illegal immigrants. Unless, we H1Bs get some proper representation, only an insignificant change to the EB visa numbers may be made. Immigration bills are not passed every year, and if we miss the boat on this then I guess I will be writing to y’all in 10 years.
So here is the action plan for which I need some volunteers:
(a) First we are going to get a website out. I need a few technical administrators - somebody with HTML, web based database, and querying, graphics, hosting, skills etc.
(b) Need an Accountant with non-profit experience.
(c) Need somebody who can help us get this non-profit registered.
(d) Need to get a reputable attorney to be on the board of directors and co-chair this non-profit. The attorney will also help us liaise with the lobbying firm. The attorney will gain significant exposure from this, for a good cause, including possibly some airtime on TV.
(e) Need a set of directors and somebody to chair this non-profit.
As we get this organized and get the volunteers together we will come up with a charter and put it up on the website. We are then going to use the website to raise some serious money, collect statistics and track information. They say there are about 300,000 backlog cases. Even if half of them contribute $20, you are looking at $3 million dollars. Other people, and organizations including your local grocery store should be inclined to contribute and raise that number. Any unused money will be contributed to a charitable organization of your choice.
The time to ACT is NOW, so that we can get our voices heard as the Bill is being reviewed.
Please respond to me at
bluberry4all@yahoo.com (with the subject heading H1B) with your information and the role you would like to play so that we can get this moving.
They say the H1Bs represent a highly skilled workforce, and so lets prove that RIGHT. Else we probably do not deserve a GC.
Please paste this on other forums so that there is some visibility and people can volunteer.