H-1B Cap Battle Expected



H-1B Cap Battle Expected

“A battle over expanding the H-1B visa cap is looming in the debate over high-skilled immigration. A bill introduced by a bipartisan group of senators this week—called the Immigration Innovation Act, or I-Squared for short—includes a measure that would increase the H-1B visa cap to 115,000 from the current cap of 65,000,” The Hill reports.

“Lawmakers and some labor groups have criticized the H-1B temporary worker visa program in the past. Proposals to expand the visa cap were a sticking point the last time Congress tried to pass comprehensive immigration reform in 2007. That fight is expected to be revived as the Senate begins its work on crafting a comprehensive immigration bill.”

Schumer Confirms Enforcement Not a Pre-Condition to Amnesty

“All things equal, when preparing to compromise on a policy issue, it is better for conservatives to first work together to craft a statement of principles, conditions, and red lines before signing onto a plan enthusiastically backed by the left. That is why it is so disconcerting that the statement of “conservative principles” on the issue of immigration was first crafted with Chuck Schumer,” says Daniel Horrowitz at RedState.com.

“We’ve already noted that the legal status for illegal immigrants would be granted immediately and unconditionally upon passage of the bill. Once they obtain that status, it will be very difficult to stop the momentum of citizenship for enforcement benchmarks, which were left very ambiguous in their draft proposal.”

Post Editors Favor National ID for Immigration, Voter Fraud

“An effective solution would be to issue tamper-proof, biometric ID cards — using fingerprints or a comparably unique identifier — to all citizens and legal residents. Last week, both President Obama and a bipartisan group of eight senators seeking immigration reform urged something along those lines, without calling it a universal national identity card. That’s a major step forward,” says the Washington Post.

“A phased-in, reliable ID might have other benefits — for instance, to safeguard voting. That should satisfy Republicans who insist that IDs prevent fraud at the ballot, as well as Democrats who believe Republicans want to suppress voting.”

Krauthammer: Getting Immigration Wrong

“Immigration reform is coming. Let’s get it right. What counts as getting it wrong? The 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli Act, signed by Ronald Reagan. It granted amnesty to the then 3 million illegal immigrants and promised border enforcement. Amnesty came. Enforcement never did. Reagan was swindled,” says Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post.

“When I heard McCain talk about (among other measures) new high-tech border control with advanced radar and drones, my heart sank. We’ve been here. In 2006, Congress threw a ton of money at a high-tech fence. Five years, $1 billion and a pathetic 53 (out of 2,000) miles later, Janet Napolitano canceled the program as a complete failure.”

“That was predictable. And some of us predicting it were pleading for something infinitely cheaper and simpler: a prosaic, low-tech fence. Of the kind built near San Diego (triple-layered) that resulted in an astounding 92 percent drop in apprehensions. Like the Israeli fence built along the West Bank that has reduced terrorist infiltration to practically zero.”

About Author

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Dan is the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)'s President after joining the organization in 1982. He has testified more than 50 times before Congress, and been cited in the media as "America's best-known immigration reformer." Dan has appeared on virtually every significant TV and radio news/talk program in America and, in addition to being a contributing editor to ImmigrationReform.com, has contributed commentaries to a vast number of print media outlets.

3 Comments

  1. avatar

    In October 2000 was passed the ironinally named “American Competativeness in the 21st Century Act” sponsored by Kennedy and Feinstein. Feinstein abstained as she laid out in a skiing injury. It increased temporarily the allocation of H1-B visas to 195,000 before reducing it back down to 65,000.

    But it did two very dangerous things. 1. It abolished any limits on H1-B’s for research and educational institutions. Rockefeller University, MIT, UCSF, Harvard, etc. could have ALL THEY WANT. 2. No longer would an H1-B be hired only in the situation where no qualified American applicant could be found. H1-B’s could compete head to head with American workers. A huge boom to employers!

    Very sad.

  2. avatar

    The Joke of It Is

    The increase in H-1Bs does not mean the tech job market is improving; it just means companies like MSFT and Google are pumping up this “Big Lie” there’s a tech shortage that’s been going on the last 6 years….its a broken record repeating itself over and over…

    http://cis.org/miano/biglie

  3. avatar

    Some things do not need to be and cannot be improved. The wheel is….the wheel. Nothing has improved on it. And a fence is a fence. It does what it does. It doesn’t stop everyone but it makes crossing very difficult to the point that people think twice. Any high tech drones and radar and all the other nonsense do not make up for the fact that if the border is open, then illegals can run right across and be miles into the country by the time the border patrol can respond. A double layer fence slows people down immensely. It gives the border patrol time to get there and meet them. All the high tech is smoke and mirrors by people who can’t acknowledge the truth that a fence has been [obviously] proven to work, or they simply don’t want a fence. A fence doesn’t work? You don’t see high tech drones around prisons. And someone forgot to tell Mexico. They have one along their border with Guatemala.

    As for all the “reform” proposals, it’s the same old same old. Amnesty up front, and work out all the details later. In other words, hold onto your wallet America. There is not merely an amnesty, but it’s stuffed full of guest worker visas at all levels, ignoring our massive unemployment, and also it will have family reunification visas which have yet to be spelled out. These is not about 11 or 12 million people but in fact is about 4 or 5 times that amount at a minimum. It’s pass this and trust us. Nah, you fooled us once in 1986. You know the saying, first time, shame on you, second time, shame on me. Chuck Schumer, John McCain, and their merry band of liars.