well i and my colleagues hv been silent viewers but active performers. We faxed and phoned to every one on the exel sheet and tried to speak to any one one we could. I will have every one i know join this.... more so i will ensure that next time we need to mobolise energy i will inform every one in Louisinia and some in Texas so that there is greater impact.
S. 1932 Status
- Thread starter sunjoshi
- Start date
Yeah, I'm with you. I feel exactly the same. However, let's take a look back in the history of this country. The first colonists were guests on this land. If they had been the same disappointed after the very first (second, whatever) failure, they wouldn't have created such a great country. So, let's make our attempt ;-) We can give up somehow later, but not now. ;-)
nozdam said:
Last edited by a moderator:
Very Nice Article
Life of Immigrant in 21st Century America
Ever wondered how life of an immigrant looks like in 21st century America? Well it is like a 19th century life when slavery was rampant and rights to free society was restricted for certain individuals with certain skin color. In 21st century this group is called Technology Slaves. These are folks from all around the world who were lured into American Dream by offering a Visa called H1B. Most of these folks are educated in the finest schools in America and possess a master’s or a doctorate degree. Unaware of what they have signed for they take a ride to their dream land and plan for a happy life in the land of immigrants. Their journey begins in an Airplane unlike their 19th century counterparts whose began in a storage compartment in a ship; unfortunately this is all that has changed then and now. Once in their promised land carrying a dual intent (strangely contrasting dual nature: means it is a non immigrant visa with provisions to become immigrant: More on it later) known the dreaded H1B. I call it “dreaded” because it is hated as much as by the immigrant having the visa as citizens of the country he is living in. Their life began with learning the accent, understanding the local lingo and culture. They start to grow and adjust in the land of opportunities, and some of these folks who like it decide to adopt America as the country to live. This might turn out to be the worst mistake they made in their journey. This is when the settlement phase and the most difficult phase of their journey starts. They quickly learn that they need a card called “Green Card” to live freely in the land of free claimed to have abolished slavery in Lincoln era. I wonder if H1B is modern slavery program initiated for the corporations in need of technology slaves.
Coming to terms with the reality these individuals realized that they are on a guest worker visa. The number of such visas a 3 times as much as number of Green Cards available. This is done to ensure that corporations can have steady supply of skilled labor at a reasonable rate. This not only impacts H1B holders but it also impacts locals whose paycheck is kept in check with this overseas supply of cheap labor. Now the vast majority of these temporary workers have to go through a lengthy and humiliating process to obtain green cards knowing fully well only 1/3rd will eventually get it. This process gives a complete control of the life of the H1B holder to the employer for a period of no less than 5 years. In this journey where only H1B holder has to adhere to the law as for everyone else involved like lawyers, government agency and corporations it is just a system to rake more money from the technology slaves as and when you can. To make things worse if a political agenda regarding illegal immigrant’s crop up there will be mass amnesty where law breakers will stand in the front of queue. The technology slave silently swallows all this with no complains as a price that he has to pay for a better life for himself and his family is his chosen land. He silently suffers through the broken immigration system that is designed to serve the needs of everyone except for the ones it is meant to serve.
Make no mistake these individuals seeks to settle in the country by fully legal means, paying taxes, contributing to medicare and social security taxes which they might never get to benefit from. I wonder what do government gain by doing all this? or is it simply a puppet of corporations as expected in a capitalistic economy ? There are close to 500,00o such highly educated folks who are probably seeking to live permanently in America after staying here for past 4-5 years and contributing to the society but things are made so difficult for them, on the other hand there are 8 million illegal immigrants who are given amnesty for breaking the laws and enjoy benefits more than those who play by rules and trying to settle in the country by legal means. There 50,000 green cards given to people from all across the world to promote diversity who have contributed absolutely nothing to the society so far but no consideration for people who have contributed to the society shoulder to shoulder with the citizens.
Think tanks have pointed out that engineering enrollment in US is in decline and 60% of the Master’s and Doctorate degrees awarded in American Universities goes to the foreign nationals. In order to keep America on par with other developed country aren’t we going to need these folks? This is what Intel’s Chairman Criag Barrett has said on the the subject “Barrett has some suggestions for fending off a brain drain. First, staple a green card to any master's or PhD degree [awarded to a foreign student] in the United States. You get the degree, here's a green card” .
What puzzles me is why America is so hard on there less then 1 million law abiding folks looking to settle down in the country the way immigrants have always been? What have they done wrong? What is it that they have done which makes them so despised and cornered by the government agencies in the very country that has welcomed immigrants for centuries? Shouldn't we learn from Canada, UK and Australia about how to run an efficient immigration program which will benefit the country as well as the immigrants ? These countries have immigration system with selection criteria based on the merit of the individual seeking to immigrate and the need of the nation as opposed to our immigration program which is nothing more than a puppet for corporate America and is twisted time and again to support political agenda and serve special interests.
Life of Immigrant in 21st Century America
Ever wondered how life of an immigrant looks like in 21st century America? Well it is like a 19th century life when slavery was rampant and rights to free society was restricted for certain individuals with certain skin color. In 21st century this group is called Technology Slaves. These are folks from all around the world who were lured into American Dream by offering a Visa called H1B. Most of these folks are educated in the finest schools in America and possess a master’s or a doctorate degree. Unaware of what they have signed for they take a ride to their dream land and plan for a happy life in the land of immigrants. Their journey begins in an Airplane unlike their 19th century counterparts whose began in a storage compartment in a ship; unfortunately this is all that has changed then and now. Once in their promised land carrying a dual intent (strangely contrasting dual nature: means it is a non immigrant visa with provisions to become immigrant: More on it later) known the dreaded H1B. I call it “dreaded” because it is hated as much as by the immigrant having the visa as citizens of the country he is living in. Their life began with learning the accent, understanding the local lingo and culture. They start to grow and adjust in the land of opportunities, and some of these folks who like it decide to adopt America as the country to live. This might turn out to be the worst mistake they made in their journey. This is when the settlement phase and the most difficult phase of their journey starts. They quickly learn that they need a card called “Green Card” to live freely in the land of free claimed to have abolished slavery in Lincoln era. I wonder if H1B is modern slavery program initiated for the corporations in need of technology slaves.
Coming to terms with the reality these individuals realized that they are on a guest worker visa. The number of such visas a 3 times as much as number of Green Cards available. This is done to ensure that corporations can have steady supply of skilled labor at a reasonable rate. This not only impacts H1B holders but it also impacts locals whose paycheck is kept in check with this overseas supply of cheap labor. Now the vast majority of these temporary workers have to go through a lengthy and humiliating process to obtain green cards knowing fully well only 1/3rd will eventually get it. This process gives a complete control of the life of the H1B holder to the employer for a period of no less than 5 years. In this journey where only H1B holder has to adhere to the law as for everyone else involved like lawyers, government agency and corporations it is just a system to rake more money from the technology slaves as and when you can. To make things worse if a political agenda regarding illegal immigrant’s crop up there will be mass amnesty where law breakers will stand in the front of queue. The technology slave silently swallows all this with no complains as a price that he has to pay for a better life for himself and his family is his chosen land. He silently suffers through the broken immigration system that is designed to serve the needs of everyone except for the ones it is meant to serve.
Make no mistake these individuals seeks to settle in the country by fully legal means, paying taxes, contributing to medicare and social security taxes which they might never get to benefit from. I wonder what do government gain by doing all this? or is it simply a puppet of corporations as expected in a capitalistic economy ? There are close to 500,00o such highly educated folks who are probably seeking to live permanently in America after staying here for past 4-5 years and contributing to the society but things are made so difficult for them, on the other hand there are 8 million illegal immigrants who are given amnesty for breaking the laws and enjoy benefits more than those who play by rules and trying to settle in the country by legal means. There 50,000 green cards given to people from all across the world to promote diversity who have contributed absolutely nothing to the society so far but no consideration for people who have contributed to the society shoulder to shoulder with the citizens.
Think tanks have pointed out that engineering enrollment in US is in decline and 60% of the Master’s and Doctorate degrees awarded in American Universities goes to the foreign nationals. In order to keep America on par with other developed country aren’t we going to need these folks? This is what Intel’s Chairman Criag Barrett has said on the the subject “Barrett has some suggestions for fending off a brain drain. First, staple a green card to any master's or PhD degree [awarded to a foreign student] in the United States. You get the degree, here's a green card” .
What puzzles me is why America is so hard on there less then 1 million law abiding folks looking to settle down in the country the way immigrants have always been? What have they done wrong? What is it that they have done which makes them so despised and cornered by the government agencies in the very country that has welcomed immigrants for centuries? Shouldn't we learn from Canada, UK and Australia about how to run an efficient immigration program which will benefit the country as well as the immigrants ? These countries have immigration system with selection criteria based on the merit of the individual seeking to immigrate and the need of the nation as opposed to our immigration program which is nothing more than a puppet for corporate America and is twisted time and again to support political agenda and serve special interests.
It appears that there are a couple (proposed) bills floating around, none of which may serve ALL our needs.
What we can do is to come up with a formal document (whatever it may be called), and setup meetings with a couple Senators/congressmen that can introduce a new bill, rather than go behind any proposed bills. Or atleast make modifications to proposed bills.
For some reason, I'm not that heart-broken or taken aback due to S1932(maybe I can't be put down anymore than where I'm at??). But it does appear to me that there are some lawmakers that are willing to listen to our side of the story.
I know there are some "agenda items" already posted someplace, but to make it easily accessible and make changes, can someone put it together in a doc? Maybe the same should be done to the "media story" that we need published. I saw something on it in a few posts.
The people that have signed up in a seperate thread, Are you guys up for forming teams with designated responsibilities? That way we can focus our energy in a right direction.
Media coverage is going to be a HUGE thing. I'm on vacation this week, but when I return, I'll try to setup an interview/meeting with Atlanta Journal Constitution to get a piece in it (it is local to me, and I kindof have an indirect contact). We should VERY seriously work towards getting publicity SPECIFICALLY about EB Retrogression.
Guys, don't lose heart and give up. I told in a very early post in this thread that we should be in this for the long haul. So, there we are. Just gear up!!.
What we can do is to come up with a formal document (whatever it may be called), and setup meetings with a couple Senators/congressmen that can introduce a new bill, rather than go behind any proposed bills. Or atleast make modifications to proposed bills.
For some reason, I'm not that heart-broken or taken aback due to S1932(maybe I can't be put down anymore than where I'm at??). But it does appear to me that there are some lawmakers that are willing to listen to our side of the story.
I know there are some "agenda items" already posted someplace, but to make it easily accessible and make changes, can someone put it together in a doc? Maybe the same should be done to the "media story" that we need published. I saw something on it in a few posts.
The people that have signed up in a seperate thread, Are you guys up for forming teams with designated responsibilities? That way we can focus our energy in a right direction.
Media coverage is going to be a HUGE thing. I'm on vacation this week, but when I return, I'll try to setup an interview/meeting with Atlanta Journal Constitution to get a piece in it (it is local to me, and I kindof have an indirect contact). We should VERY seriously work towards getting publicity SPECIFICALLY about EB Retrogression.
Guys, don't lose heart and give up. I told in a very early post in this thread that we should be in this for the long haul. So, there we are. Just gear up!!.
sick_of_waiting
Registered Users (C)
As we are discussing adding the S.1932 provisions as amendments to the comprehensive immigration reform bill (to be presented in 02/06), I would like to suggest that we should look beyond the green card. There is a movement started by Kashmir called Project Ocean which is asking for amending the INA section regarding citizenship. Project Ocean aims to count the time spent in the wait of GC for the five years required for citizenship (as we are spending more than half a decade for GC alone). If nothing else we should ask that at least 3 years spent in waiting for GC should be counted towards the 5 year citizenship requirement.
I know some of you would say that we should not make outrageous demands and getting this one from the current congress/senate is nearly impossible but I really believe that we should shoot for the moon, at least if we fail we will fall among the stars.
Are we doomed to spend the best and the most productive decade of our lives in the immigration maze? We should try to get out of this red-tape as soon as possible.
Thanks for your time.
I know some of you would say that we should not make outrageous demands and getting this one from the current congress/senate is nearly impossible but I really believe that we should shoot for the moon, at least if we fail we will fall among the stars.
Are we doomed to spend the best and the most productive decade of our lives in the immigration maze? We should try to get out of this red-tape as soon as possible.
Thanks for your time.
recieved an email from Senator
Thank you for writing to me in support of H ‑1B and L-1 visas. I appreciate hearing from you.
H-1B visas are usually issued to foreign workers with specialized skills. In recent years, the bulk of these visas have been given to those who work for high-technology companies. Growth in this industry has resulted in a significant increase in demand for workers and, in turn, for H-1B visas. Similarly, American companies with subsidiaries abroad may use the L-1 visa for intra-company transfers to the United States of foreign employees whose work requires managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge.
We must ensure that our high-tech companies have the workers they need to remain a vital force in our economy. For this reason, I voted against an amendment that would have removed increases in the number of permanent and work-related visas from the Senate version of the Budget Reconciliation bill. You will be pleased to know that this amendment failed to pass.
Thank you again for writing to me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or other issues of concern to you.
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
Please visit my website at http://boxer.senate.gov
Thank you for writing to me in support of H ‑1B and L-1 visas. I appreciate hearing from you.
H-1B visas are usually issued to foreign workers with specialized skills. In recent years, the bulk of these visas have been given to those who work for high-technology companies. Growth in this industry has resulted in a significant increase in demand for workers and, in turn, for H-1B visas. Similarly, American companies with subsidiaries abroad may use the L-1 visa for intra-company transfers to the United States of foreign employees whose work requires managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge.
We must ensure that our high-tech companies have the workers they need to remain a vital force in our economy. For this reason, I voted against an amendment that would have removed increases in the number of permanent and work-related visas from the Senate version of the Budget Reconciliation bill. You will be pleased to know that this amendment failed to pass.
Thank you again for writing to me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or other issues of concern to you.
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
Please visit my website at http://boxer.senate.gov
sunofeast_GC
Registered Users (C)
good one....Where you found this article...Please can you send me URL?
Pateketu said:
we exactly need these numbers and also we need combine the effects with baby-boom retire etc.satyasaich said:Earlier in this thread, there was an excellent article about modern slavery and miseries of H1Bs in this country. we are no less than unsung heros, but unfortunately missing an united voice that can echo and reach the minds of law makers.
Inspite of the constraints& slavery, to show how important we are to this economy, following are the numbers i came up with to support .
600,000 H1Bs with average salary of $60,000/ PA, 25% towards SS, Fed Tax, State Tax and medicare comes to % 15,000.This comes to $9 Billion every year. Remember this amount is we are giving but in return we get very little(practically nothing, as we are not entitled for any SS benefits in case of job loss, for ex). Also i think it's fair to include other facets of our contrbution to economy in terms of spending such as buying a car, other goods, paying interests for home loans etc; I'd guess that atleast another 20% goes in to this category, which brings up another $7.2 Billion (20% of $60000 * 600,000)
One approach is to take some demographic details of how all of us are spread across this country & make a nice PPT presentation. This is a bit of work but let us lay the foundation with more facts. I'm sure whenever i approach any senator or congressman (i did this atleast 6 times until now in Midwest), facts presented in terms of dollar amount is always appealing& strikes at bulls eye.
On the other hand, there must be some sort of comparison how we are different from illegal immigrants in the same context,(meaning how much an illegal immigrant would cost the local govt without paying taxes, no medicare, no inputs to SS etc. This is very much needed to support our genuine cause when ever anti-immigrant forces step up their lobbying.
We do remember we have these kind of informations here and there, before I saw an lady writes good fincial articles about this too. we need to put this nicely into PPT and also in the website-isnamerica.org.
To those who are not happy and are upset with today's events at Senate and House:
If you don't do anything there is 100 percent guarantee that nothing is going to happen in February. If you do something today something will happen in February so just do it.
One thiing is for sure because of our hard work all the people working at washington know about the some problem faced by legal immigrants and something needs to be done. Let us take advantage of that situation. We will begin our work from January 4th 2005 by sending letters to the media. We will also meet our congressman since they will be at their local office during the christmas time to convince them to solve our retrogression problem.
Cheers
If you don't do anything there is 100 percent guarantee that nothing is going to happen in February. If you do something today something will happen in February so just do it.
One thiing is for sure because of our hard work all the people working at washington know about the some problem faced by legal immigrants and something needs to be done. Let us take advantage of that situation. We will begin our work from January 4th 2005 by sending letters to the media. We will also meet our congressman since they will be at their local office during the christmas time to convince them to solve our retrogression problem.
Cheers
guys, shall we talking about EB relief or EB immigration should exisitng/ EB Visas should have more?
As congressman Honda said in his email, since they recruit us from all the world, they should give us considerable benefits/rights,
Now we are suffered from this long waiting and it is partly caused by DOL, long-waiting LCs, cause many Visa numbers not used, we want these numbers back, nothing conflict with the current immi law.
Like say, we have a rent agreement, for the landload's sake, we can't move in and have to wait for 3 month, now we want the landload to let us reuse the 3 month. If you are granted to be paid $3000/month and they can't pay for 3 month because of their reason, can they just forget this and say well, let's start from this month. where is our benefits/visa numbers in the last three years?
recapture is not increasing any numbers here.
remove spouse and kids is too.
Why I lost my chance just because the person before me have a 3 years old son and I lost my chance to his 3 year old son as myself an tech immi?
As congressman Honda said in his email, since they recruit us from all the world, they should give us considerable benefits/rights,
Now we are suffered from this long waiting and it is partly caused by DOL, long-waiting LCs, cause many Visa numbers not used, we want these numbers back, nothing conflict with the current immi law.
Like say, we have a rent agreement, for the landload's sake, we can't move in and have to wait for 3 month, now we want the landload to let us reuse the 3 month. If you are granted to be paid $3000/month and they can't pay for 3 month because of their reason, can they just forget this and say well, let's start from this month. where is our benefits/visa numbers in the last three years?
recapture is not increasing any numbers here.
remove spouse and kids is too.
Why I lost my chance just because the person before me have a 3 years old son and I lost my chance to his 3 year old son as myself an tech immi?
Let's make this acceptable to everyone and the point is:
if they don't recapture the numbers, that's breaking the law.
if they keep delay all of us to 10 years later, we may need to leave USA or out of job or all stuck in 1 year , surely there is not enough Visa numbers for us in 1 year.
if they don't recapture the numbers, that's breaking the law.
if they keep delay all of us to 10 years later, we may need to leave USA or out of job or all stuck in 1 year , surely there is not enough Visa numbers for us in 1 year.
jamiw75 said:
BoxOfChocs
Registered Users (C)
Who is responsible for the S. 1932 fiasco?
I feel so frustrated and angry, just like everybody else here, but we have channel this into something that prevents any such betrayal in the future.
Who is more guilty for the S. 1932 fiasco? The misguided anti-immigrationists or the so-called friends who left us in the lurch after delivering the Senate defeat of the Byrd amendment? Who is responsible when a patient dies from a treatable injury - the criminal who caused the first injury, or the doctor who ran away after First-aid? The problem is the poor patient cannot do anything immediately.jamiw75 said:
I feel so frustrated and angry, just like everybody else here, but we have channel this into something that prevents any such betrayal in the future.
Friends:
Please help me answer this. Since there is no Visa number available, What is the pobability for someone in 1140 stage can file EAD & 485 ( at least)
Sorry if this question being very basic.. but I am thinking of some miracles here like,
1. All of a sudden Visa number gets available for the next fiscal year
2. The service center processes so quickly and the date becomes current
Other than the possibility of Feb bill, what is the probability of this happening?
Thanks
Please help me answer this. Since there is no Visa number available, What is the pobability for someone in 1140 stage can file EAD & 485 ( at least)
Sorry if this question being very basic.. but I am thinking of some miracles here like,
1. All of a sudden Visa number gets available for the next fiscal year
2. The service center processes so quickly and the date becomes current
Other than the possibility of Feb bill, what is the probability of this happening?
Thanks
WaldenPond
Registered Users (C)
jamiw75 said:
Do not want to keep on repeating the same thing but there is huge material available from the book 'The Flight of the Creative Class - By Richard Florida'. This book is available on Amazon.com for as low as $3. I just bought this book and as I am scanning through it, I want to share that this has huge resource of information that we can use constructively to counter any figures/charts provided by people with a different viewpoint.
I think before we can go out and present any meaningful ideas/information to others, we need to educate ourselves about putting our ideas into words and articulate the message well. And we can reach there with such books and other print media. Just a thought.