Senate weighs H-1B visa changes
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U.S. senators are debating a controversial measure to exempt foreign student graduates from the cap on H-1B visas.
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A broad bipartisan immigration deal was threatened Tuesday as the Senate prepared to vote on a Republican proposal to make it harder for millions of illegal immigrants to qualify for green cards.
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Help may be on the way to deal with the backlog of unprocessed passport requests. Legislation passed Monday by the House would make it easier for the State Department to rehire retired personnel to pitch in.
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A dispute over how heavily to weigh family ties in future immigration is re-emerging as the Senate resumes debate this week over legislation giving legal status to millions of unlawful immigrants.
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Business lobbyists believe lawmakers will ultimately strip from Senate minimum wage legislation any sanctions against companies caught hiring illegal immigrants. Whether they can keep it out of immigration law is another matter
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The Senate&#039;s effort to curb illegal immigration involves the hiring of 14,000 Border Patrol agents, more detention centers to hold illegal immigrants and 370 miles of fencing. But those get-tough provisions aren&#039;t generating much support from a key GOP lawmaker in the House &amp;#151; at least not when combined with a provision that would allow millions of illegal immigrants already in the country a chance to become U.S. citizens.
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An immigration reform bill that includes a proposed hike in the annual cap on H-1B visas was the subject of a hearing in the U.S. House. But it's unlikely that the bill will become law this year.
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(InfoWorld) - Alumni of a major Indian university want the U.S. Congress to take separate action to passÂ H-1B visaÂ legislation that went down with the immigration reform bill thatÂ failed in CongressÂ last week. Members of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni association, meeting for a three-day conference in Santa Clara, California, said Friday that they are hoping to get a separate vote on an immigration bill provision that would increase the number of visas granted to highly skilled engineers coming from abroad to work at U.S. technology companies. "Almost as soon as the bill died, there was talk of piecemeal moves to get parts of that bill passed," said Umang Gupta, chairman and CEO of Keynote Systems, a company that measures the technical performance of Web sites. He's also chairman of the board of PAN IIT, the alumni group hosting the conference, which has drawn close to 4,000 people. The legislation would increase the limit of H-1B visas to be granted every year to 115,000 from 65,000 today. Backers say the extra visas are needed because there aren't enough qualified U.S. engineers to do the work U.S. companies need done. Opponents say the visas just make it possible for U.S. companies to hire foreigners at lower wages than they would have to pay U.S. hires. The legislation would also continue to allow 20,000 visas per year to applicants who have advanced degrees from U.S. colleges and universities. Today, about half of the graduates of U.S. engineering schools are non-Americans, many of whom have to return to their home countries to find work when they should be allowed to work here and contribute to U.S. economic growth, said Pradeep Khosla, dean of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. "The day this country limits the free flow of skilled immigrants coming into this country, that's the day we start going downhill," said Khosla. Another IIT alum, Yogen Dalal, managing director at Mayfield Fund, a venture capital firm, noted that in the early 1990s, some in Silicon Valley thought they would be overcome by the Japanese. But the success of valley companies like Google and Apple, which introduced its iPhone a week ago, shows it remains a center for innovation. "Wealth is being created by innovation right here in [Silicon Valley]. Economic value is being created here. The work force is just being redistributed," Dalal said. The H1-B discussion is happening against the backdrop of the loss of thousands of jobs in recent years, particularly in Silicon Valley, as companies outsourced work to lower-wage markets in countries like India. But as more work is done in India,Â wage inflationÂ has begun to narrow the pay gap between India and the U.S. And in some cases, Indian companies have begun moving jobs to the U.S., said Arjun Malhotra, chairman and CEO of Headstrong, an outsourcing consulting firm. "If you look at the issue today, it's not outsourcing, it's global sourcing. You go to wherever the best resources are available to do that job," said Malhotra. The Indian Institute of Technology was created in 1950, three years after India gained its independence from Great Britain. It has about 100,000 alumni, 25,000 of whom live and work in the U.S.
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(InfoWorld) - Three major technology trade groups urged the U.S. Senate on Friday to resurrect a wide-ranging immigration reform bill that would expand a controversial skilled-worker visa program. The Senate late Thursday failed to gain enough votes to close debate on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act and bring the bill to a floor vote. The bill, which critics said provided amnesty to illegal aliens living in the U.S., also would have expanded exemptions to the cap on high-skilled H-1B visa programs, a move supported by many tech vendors. [ Analysis:Â Immigration reform's high-tech impactÂ ] The bill would increase the annual H-1B cap from 65,000 to 115,000 and exempt foreign students who have earned a master's degree or higher from a U.S. university from the annual cap. Right now, 20,000 students are exempted from the cap. U.S. tech vendors don't want to lose those workers, especially because many of them have their education supported by U.S. tax dollars at public universities, said David LeDuc, director of public policy for the SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association). "We don't want to export our seed corn," he said. "We don't want [those students] leaving and working for our competitors." The bill also sets preferences based on merit, instead of family connections, for clearing multiyear backlogs for employment green cards, another provision supported by many tech groups. Tech vendors want to keep high-skilled workers in the U.S. under the long-term green card program but often face delays, LeDuc said. The SIIA, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and the ITIÂ (Information Technology Industry Council) all urged the Senate to try again to pass the legislation. Negotiations on the bill will continue, and ITI is optimistic the bill will still move forward, said James Ratchford, communications director there. The fate of the bill should become clearer by early next week, he said. LeDuc agreed, saying SIIA is confident the bill can still pass. Many large tech vendors have in recent years urged Congress to expand the H-1B program. In March, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates called for more H-1B visas during a visit to Washington, D.C. Gates said then he had "deep anxiety" about the ability of the U.S. to compete globally. SIIA's position is similar to Microsoft's. "Companies need to be able to hire the best and brightest workers regardless of where they're born," LeDuc said. The H-1B program isn't generating controversy during the congressional debate on the bill. Instead, provisions to allow illegal aliens to become permanent citizens have raised major concerns among many Republicans. But U.S.-based tech worker groups such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA have opposed a higher H-1B cap, arguing that companies use the program to hire foreign workers for less money than unemployed U.S. workers would receive.
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The Bush administration will ask Congress to change and expand a program that allows citizens of some countries to enter the U.S. without visas, but in exchange would require visitors to provide more data about themselves before they board planes.
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Senators are betting the U.S. would benefit from giving most illegal immigrants the chance to become American citizens &amp;#151; highlighting their resolve to pass a landmark immigration overhaul.
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The day after the Senate failed to move on a proposal for a broad change in immigration law, it was a time to take stock of the debate.
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A White House-backed bill revamping U.S. immigration laws stalled in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, handing President George W. Bush a major legislative setback.
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The US Senate on Monday set its sights on passing a bill granting legal status to 12 million illegal immigrants, despite claims by opponents that the move is tantamount to a mass amnesty.
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The day after the Senate failed to move on a proposal for a broad change in immigration law, it was time to take stock.
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A U.S. Senate committee on Thursday voted to put off until mid-2009 passport requirements for U.S. travelers entering the United States by land or sea from Canada and other neighboring countries.
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Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates plans to testify before Congress Wednesday on the issue of U.S. competitiveness, a topic that could spill over into contentious questions about what to do with the H-1B visa program.