Thread: Illegal immigrants from India on the rise

Well, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. It was extremely insulting when Azim Premji was insisting that the only Americans who lost their jobs to foreigners were the ones in line to be fired anyway.

And, I have an unanswered question about IV's choice of date for the DC rally. I thought it was odd that they hadn't picked Labor Day or something closer. Now we know that the SKIL bill is being folded into a military appropriations bill about the same time. What did they know and when did they know it? Their connections to my elected government creep me out sometimes.

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

And, I have an unanswered question about IV's choice of date for the DC rally. I thought it was odd that they hadn't picked Labor Day or something closer. Now we know that the SKIL bill is being folded into a military appropriations bill about the same time. What did they know and when did they know it? Their connections to my elected government creep me out sometimes.

I believe the date was picked because Congress would be in session at that time and it wasn't possible to petition Congressmen or Senators if an earlier date was picked.

You are very much right there.
Thomas Friedman book "The World is Flat" explains the same thing in a much lucid way.

Originally Posted by aj77

The primary reasons are cost and availability. The cost factor has existed for a long time in fact since the modern Indian state was formed. What changed was availability due to the large numbers of trained people coming out of colleges starting in the 1980s. Modern communications made it possible for all of these people to compete in the same labor market.

I still suspect they had some inside info. We knew they were going to sneak SKIL provisions in at some point, and we've been watching, but this caught us by surprise.

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

I still suspect they had some inside info. We knew they were going to sneak SKIL provisions in at some point, and we've been watching, but this caught us by surprise.

For that matter all of the immigration agenda has been very fluid. Who could have guessed AgJobs and DREAM would be resurrected so soon after CIR failed?

Anyway I don't think its a bad thing that everyone knows whats going on. And IV couldn't have been any less secretive with what they were doing given that there is a rally. Whatever happens should be because it is in the interests of everyone.

What I meant was, congress caught us by surprise, the IV rally has of course been in the works and discussed in public for months.

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

What I meant was, congress caught us by surprise, the IV rally has of course been in the works and discussed in public for months.

It doesn't look like there is any news at this point on SKIL. I think someone jumped the gun on getting that news out. This was posted today :

http://www.immigration-law.com/Canada.html

09/16/2007: Senate to Debate and Act on DHS 2008 Appropriation Bill, H.R. 2638

The House passed this appropriation bill in July before the Congress left for the summer recess. The Senate is scheduled to debate and act on this bill coming Monday. The House passed bill included the following sections:
SEC. 530. EXTENSION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE FOR THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE. Subparagraph (A) of section 7209(b)(1) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-458; 8 U.S.C. 1185 note) is amended by striking `This plan shall be implemented not later than three months after the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security make the certifications required in subsection (B), or June 1, 2009, whichever is earlier.' and inserting `Such plan may not be implemented earlier than the date that is the later of 3 months after the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security make the certification required in subparagraph (B) or June 1, 2009.'.
SEC. 543. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR RULEMAKING RELATED TO PETITIONS FOR ALIENS. None of the funds made available in this Act may be used by the Secretary of Homeland Security or any delegate of the Secretary to issue any rule or regulation which implements the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking related to Petitions for Aliens To Perform Temporary Nonagricultural Services or Labor (H-2B) set out beginning on 70 Federal Register 3984 (January 27, 2005).
The Senate has already agreed to these two provisions and it is likely that these two provisions will become law affecting the WHTI enforcement which has caused somewhat pandominum for the State Department and the U.S. citizen travelers, at least for a while, and the USCIS initiaive as reflected in H-2B program may be at halt.
In the Senate, Senator Durbin from Illiois introduced an amendment to impose extra $1,500 fee to the nurses who use the recapture visa numbers and this is something which the allied healthcare worker community should watch in the coming week. There are no other employment-based immigration reform rider to this legislation, but it cannot be ruled out that such amendments can be introduced on the Senate floor. The rumor goes that AgJOBS may be introduced as a rider to the Farm Bill rather than this appropriation bill, but Senator Durbin may attempt to attach his DREAM bill to one of the appropriation bills.

There is no information available about potential reintroduction of a piecemeal employment-based immigration bill as a rider to the appropriation bills. It appears that the political landscape indicates that unless such bill is introduced as a bi-partisan bill which is attached to one of the appropriation bills or a separate bill, a Republican initiated bill to make it within this year is questionable at this point. At this point, the employment-based immigration reform as part of CIR is considered hopeless as it will totally depend on the fate of the CIR and it is a sort of concensus that the CIR may not come into reality until 2009 at best, albeit there may be some sporatic attempts in the Congress to debate such bills before 2009. The Republican-led piecemeal employment-based immigration bills have been denied by the Congress at least two times: The first bill was S.1932 in 2005 which was introduced by Senator Spector, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman at the time. This bill passed in the Senate, but the House denied it early 2006. The second attempt was Senator Cornyn of Texas who attempted to attach the SKIL bill to one of the 2008 appropriation bills but was unsuccessful because of the strong opposition from the Democrats in the Senate, particularly Senator Durbin. Unless there is a bi-partisan concensus formed very quickly, the chance for the employment-based immigration reform within this year remains questionable. We hope that the leaders of the both parties hear the voice from the business leaders as is evidenced by Microsoft Bill Gates testimony before a House subcommittee hearing earlier this year and the upcoming rally of highly skilled foreign workers in D.C. on next Tuesday to initiate such piecemeal employment-based immigration legislation before the end of the year.

We have information that the provisions of the SKIL bill, together with an amnesty and a low-skilled worker visa will be spliced into a military appropriations bill and considered this week. We will be watching.

The whole thing seems very orchestrated to us. A few months back there was a flurry of stories (and this is still ongoing) seemingly cut from the same template: "Joe Foreigner loves the US but is thinking of leaving. Even though he can code in all languages, has 37 advanced degrees, and can bring people back from the dead, he can't get a green card and is starting to feel snubbed. America will go down the tubes without him, our system is broken, what a shame." I lost count of how many of these I saw and I suspected a PR firm was behind it somehow. I know that IV was talking about hiring Hill and Knowlton a while back, not sure what became of it.

Then the STRIVE hearing. Then the governors' letter. Of course, we are working behind the scenes too, but it is frustrating to see how much access to our leadership's attention span is possessed by foreigners. We have a saying in the west: "Dance with the one that brung ya." Our elected reps have obviously forgotten this saying.

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

Of course, we are working behind the scenes too, but it is frustrating to see how much access to our leadership's attention span is possessed by foreigners. We have a saying in the west: "Dance with the one that brung ya." Our elected reps have obviously forgotten this saying.

US actions and policies impact people all around the world. Iraq is just the latest example. I think it is natural that foreigners would also strive to pursue their interests with US leadership. It is part of the price paid by the US for being number one.

Just to quote one recent example

US made comments about indian religion in-tolerence .People may ask What USA got to do with India's matters ? But that is how world works in real time.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... rt/217245/

Originally Posted by aj77

US actions and policies impact people all around the world. Iraq is just the latest example. I think it is natural that foreigners would also strive to pursue their interests with US leadership. It is part of the price paid by the US for being number one.