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The veteran Senator Robert Byrd (D) of West Virginia is rallying bipartisan support to curtail ALL the good provisions of the budgetary immigration bill, leaving only fee hikes in tact.
Here is what is on the wires:
Byrd Works to Stop Massive Immigration Expansion; Move Would Also Protect U.S. Jobs
By HNN Staff
Washington, DC (HNN) – U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., is leading a bipartisan group of Senators in an effort to stop a vast increase in immigration visa permits.
"Immigration is an issue that demands the attention of the Congress, and, regretfully, we have been told that tougher enforcement actions will have to wait until next year. And so, imagine the surprise of Senators to find provisions buried deep, deep in this budget bill that would authorize the U.S. Government to issue more than 350,000 additional immigrant visas each year to foreign laborers seeking to live and work permanently in the United States," Byrd said during debate on Wednesday.
The government grants permanent residency to approximately 1 million immigrants each year. Byrd is working to block provisions that would raise that number by one third -- a massive destabilizing increase.
"It is baffling. If we don’t have the time to address the illegal immigration that threatens our national security, then how do we explain to the American people that we somehow found the time to raise the level of imported labor each year?" Byrd asked.
Byrd offered an amendment that would strike the escalation in visa permits. Many have expressed concern that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration and border security issues, is not in a position to handle the increased H-1B visas that Senator Byrd is trying to stop. In fact, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that the Department of Homeland Security cannot estimate how many people are already in the United States on H-1B visas because of inadequate tracking systems. The Byrd amendment has garnered the support of many labor unions, which are concerned that such a flood of new visas would mean fewer jobs for American workers.
"It’s bad enough that so many American jobs are moving overseas, and wages and benefits here at home are being curtailed to compete with third-world labor and unfair trade practices. Now, these provisions would make it more likely that working Americans will find themselves in competition with foreign labor for work in their own country," Byrd said.
In a letter to all Senators, the group "United for a Secure America" urged support for the Byrd amendment.
"United to Secure America, representing our nation’s leading immigration reform organizations with hundreds of thousands of members and supporters throughout the country, strongly urges you to support the amendment to the Reconciliation bill expected to be offered today by Senator Byrd to delete provisions that would in effect sell over 368,000 American jobs annually to foreign workers and their families who would be allowed to move permanently to the United States and take Americans’ jobs," the letter said.
A vote on the Byrd amendment is expected Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005.
The amendment is another step in Byrd’s efforts to try to ensure that America’s immigration system is not overwhelmed and that the government is able to enforce the laws on the books. Five hundred new agents are guarding America’s borders because of legislation that Byrd and Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho guided through the Congress in May.
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/state/051102-staff-byrd.html
_________________________________________
The Economic Times Online
Printed from economictimes.indiatimes.com > Politics/Nation
Why Robert Byrd doesn't want you to visit US
URMI A GOSWAMI
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 02, 2005 11:26:00 AM]
NRI Special Offer!
NEW DELHI: It won’t be a smooth sailing for the proposal advocating an increase in the annual H-1B cap and employment-based immigration visas.
Senator Robert Byrd has decided to introduce an amendment to the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 (S. 1932) that will delete proposals added by the US senate judiciary committee that would expand the number of employment-based immigration visas, H-1B high tech worker non-immigrant visas and accompanying family members by an estimated 3,68,000 per year.
The proposed amendment Mr Byrd will also fulfil the $300 million five-year saving target set by the fiscal 2006 budget resolution.
The senate judiciary committee was charged with finding $60 million in fiscal year 2006 and $300 million over the five year period between FY 2006 and FY 2010.
As per the Byrd amendment there will be no increases in the highly skilled worker non-immigrant visa, neither will unused employment based immigration visas be recaptured, nor will dependants of the employment based immigrant visa applicant be exempt from the cap.
All Senator Byrd proposes is to adopted the US House of Representative Judiciary Committee’s proposal to raise the fees on L-1 intra-company transferees to $1,500 per visa.
This would bring in $80 million in FY 2006 and $500 million over the five-year period between FY 2006 and FY 2010.
The senator is known to be a protectionist. However, his effort to undo the proposals approved by the senate judiciary committee may find favour with many of his colleagues, even those who have previously supported increases in immigration.
Even as the senate judiciary committee approved the immigration related proposals, many US lawmakers felt that sneaking in immigration policy changes in what is essentially a budget reconciliation exercise is unacceptable.
Their contention that any change in immigration provisions should be the subject of hearings and not dealt with in a backhanded manner through the budget process.
The US senate Judiciary committee had approved an proposal to increase the annual cap of H1-B visas from the current 65,000 to 95,000, as well as a reissue of unused immigrant work visas or green cards, up to a maximum of 90,000 annually as well as exempt dependants of immigrant work visas from the annual cap.
The proposal approved by the US senate judiciary committee raised the fee employers pay for a six-year H-1B visa by $500.
The current fee for an H-1B is $2,185, and an optional $1,000 expedited processing fee— given the clamour for these visas, most companies pay this optional fee.
The proposal cleared by the committee also increased the fee for L-1 visas by $750 as against the $1500 increase cleared by the US House of Representatives judiciary committee.
The committee also cleared the reclaiming and reissuing of unused green cards for professional workers from 2001. Back of the envelope calculations show that the proposals cleared by the committee will bring in $113 million in the fiscal year 2006, and $565 million over five years.
©Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1283337.cms
Here is what is on the wires:
Byrd Works to Stop Massive Immigration Expansion; Move Would Also Protect U.S. Jobs
By HNN Staff
Washington, DC (HNN) – U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., is leading a bipartisan group of Senators in an effort to stop a vast increase in immigration visa permits.
"Immigration is an issue that demands the attention of the Congress, and, regretfully, we have been told that tougher enforcement actions will have to wait until next year. And so, imagine the surprise of Senators to find provisions buried deep, deep in this budget bill that would authorize the U.S. Government to issue more than 350,000 additional immigrant visas each year to foreign laborers seeking to live and work permanently in the United States," Byrd said during debate on Wednesday.
The government grants permanent residency to approximately 1 million immigrants each year. Byrd is working to block provisions that would raise that number by one third -- a massive destabilizing increase.
"It is baffling. If we don’t have the time to address the illegal immigration that threatens our national security, then how do we explain to the American people that we somehow found the time to raise the level of imported labor each year?" Byrd asked.
Byrd offered an amendment that would strike the escalation in visa permits. Many have expressed concern that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration and border security issues, is not in a position to handle the increased H-1B visas that Senator Byrd is trying to stop. In fact, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that the Department of Homeland Security cannot estimate how many people are already in the United States on H-1B visas because of inadequate tracking systems. The Byrd amendment has garnered the support of many labor unions, which are concerned that such a flood of new visas would mean fewer jobs for American workers.
"It’s bad enough that so many American jobs are moving overseas, and wages and benefits here at home are being curtailed to compete with third-world labor and unfair trade practices. Now, these provisions would make it more likely that working Americans will find themselves in competition with foreign labor for work in their own country," Byrd said.
In a letter to all Senators, the group "United for a Secure America" urged support for the Byrd amendment.
"United to Secure America, representing our nation’s leading immigration reform organizations with hundreds of thousands of members and supporters throughout the country, strongly urges you to support the amendment to the Reconciliation bill expected to be offered today by Senator Byrd to delete provisions that would in effect sell over 368,000 American jobs annually to foreign workers and their families who would be allowed to move permanently to the United States and take Americans’ jobs," the letter said.
A vote on the Byrd amendment is expected Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005.
The amendment is another step in Byrd’s efforts to try to ensure that America’s immigration system is not overwhelmed and that the government is able to enforce the laws on the books. Five hundred new agents are guarding America’s borders because of legislation that Byrd and Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho guided through the Congress in May.
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/state/051102-staff-byrd.html
_________________________________________
The Economic Times Online
Printed from economictimes.indiatimes.com > Politics/Nation
Why Robert Byrd doesn't want you to visit US
URMI A GOSWAMI
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 02, 2005 11:26:00 AM]
NRI Special Offer!
NEW DELHI: It won’t be a smooth sailing for the proposal advocating an increase in the annual H-1B cap and employment-based immigration visas.
Senator Robert Byrd has decided to introduce an amendment to the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 (S. 1932) that will delete proposals added by the US senate judiciary committee that would expand the number of employment-based immigration visas, H-1B high tech worker non-immigrant visas and accompanying family members by an estimated 3,68,000 per year.
The proposed amendment Mr Byrd will also fulfil the $300 million five-year saving target set by the fiscal 2006 budget resolution.
The senate judiciary committee was charged with finding $60 million in fiscal year 2006 and $300 million over the five year period between FY 2006 and FY 2010.
As per the Byrd amendment there will be no increases in the highly skilled worker non-immigrant visa, neither will unused employment based immigration visas be recaptured, nor will dependants of the employment based immigrant visa applicant be exempt from the cap.
All Senator Byrd proposes is to adopted the US House of Representative Judiciary Committee’s proposal to raise the fees on L-1 intra-company transferees to $1,500 per visa.
This would bring in $80 million in FY 2006 and $500 million over the five-year period between FY 2006 and FY 2010.
The senator is known to be a protectionist. However, his effort to undo the proposals approved by the senate judiciary committee may find favour with many of his colleagues, even those who have previously supported increases in immigration.
Even as the senate judiciary committee approved the immigration related proposals, many US lawmakers felt that sneaking in immigration policy changes in what is essentially a budget reconciliation exercise is unacceptable.
Their contention that any change in immigration provisions should be the subject of hearings and not dealt with in a backhanded manner through the budget process.
The US senate Judiciary committee had approved an proposal to increase the annual cap of H1-B visas from the current 65,000 to 95,000, as well as a reissue of unused immigrant work visas or green cards, up to a maximum of 90,000 annually as well as exempt dependants of immigrant work visas from the annual cap.
The proposal approved by the US senate judiciary committee raised the fee employers pay for a six-year H-1B visa by $500.
The current fee for an H-1B is $2,185, and an optional $1,000 expedited processing fee— given the clamour for these visas, most companies pay this optional fee.
The proposal cleared by the committee also increased the fee for L-1 visas by $750 as against the $1500 increase cleared by the US House of Representatives judiciary committee.
The committee also cleared the reclaiming and reissuing of unused green cards for professional workers from 2001. Back of the envelope calculations show that the proposals cleared by the committee will bring in $113 million in the fiscal year 2006, and $565 million over five years.
©Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1283337.cms