Thread: NY: Restrictive Immigration Laws Seen as Damper on City Econ

Restrictive Immigration Laws Seen as Damper on City Economy
By ANNA PHILLIPS, Special to the Sun | July 28, 2008

With concern mounting about the health of New York City's local economy, several members of New York's congressional delegation will join with business and civic leaders today to discuss America's immigration policy, which they say is damaging the city's competitiveness internationally.

Business leaders have said that, in New York City, their principal concern is the country's visa policies. In the global market for the best-educated, highest-skilled workers, advocates say the city is weighed down by the fact that each year the federal government issues a limited number of visas for skilled, temporary workers. These 65,000 H-1B visas are distributed via a lottery system that randomly selects who companies will be able to bring into the country and hire.

After three years, the visas expire, and when they do, their holders have to reapply and re-enter the lottery — encountering the same odds of obtaining the visa that they did the first time. This is especially problematic for New York City, as it has the largest number of H-1B visa holders in the country.

Today, Reps. Charles Rangel, Joseph Crowley, Nydia Velazquez, and Anthony Weiner — a mayoral hopeful — will attend a forum co-sponsored by the Partnership for New York City and New York Immigration Coalition, with the goal of pushing immigration reform back into the legislative limelight.

"Current U.S. immigration policy and visa policy are devastating to the New York City and state economy," the president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde, said. "Members of Congress are talking about getting this issue back on the table next year, but it's going to be very difficult. It's one of those too-hot-to-handle issues."

For New York, the situation is particularly dire, as the economy has weakened while competitors have opened their doors to immigrants.

"London is wide-open in terms of immigration, so that's our most obvious disadvantage," Ms. Wylde said. "Since 2001, the U.S. has consistently closed its doors, while London has gone the opposite direction."

At present, unemployment in New York is on the rise, Wall Street bonuses are expected to plummet, and the city is bracing for budget shortfalls that will top $5 billion in a few years. A recent report by the state Financial Control Board found that the city's budget gaps could end up even deeper, by more than $2 billion.

Another obstacle to the city is the difficulty it experiences in keeping foreign students who graduate from American schools in the country. Once they graduate, even if a company offers them a job, many have to leave the country if they can't obtain work visas. Universities have an equally difficult time getting visas for foreign academics they want to employ.

Once international students and workers do get temporary visas, they face the challenge of obtaining a green card, another uphill battle, advocates of changes to the immigration laws say.

"In talking to business leaders all across the city, there is a huge concern that businesses are becoming less than competitive in this global economy when they're barred from seeking out talent wherever they can," said City Council member John Liu. "That applies to industrial professions, academics, and runway models."

The forum will also focus on how immigration policy has affected New York State, where the worries of the agricultural industry are prominent.

There, business owners are primarily concerned with the supply of immigrant workers and what they say is the federal government's emphasis on holding employers accountable for the status of whom they hire.

Among those in attendance tomorrow will be businessman John Catsimatidis, an immigrant from Greece who is considering a mayoral run. The forum will begin with a panel discussion that will include the New York State Department of Labor Commissioner, Patricia Smith, and the president and CEO of NASDAQ, Robert Greifeld, among others.

www.nysun.com

New York that has the highest cost of living of any place in America, that charges more to change a bed or serve a burger or sell you a carrot than any city in America, can't afford to hire legal American Workers? New York who wants to educate foreign kids from third world dumps half way around the world instead of marching their "officials" into Harlem or the Bronx to round up some smart American Kids and get them college educations so they can work in your businesses and enterprises wants to whine about visas so their foreign college students can stick around and steal really great jobs from Americans.

These people disgust me to the point of needing Brian's Barf Bucket.

Where is Brian anyway? I haven't seen him post for awhile.

New York ... shut up! We're sick of listening to your whines. First it's cigarettes cuz you don't like smokers, then it's transfat cuz you don't like fat, then it's drivers licenses for illegal aliens cuz you don't like our laws, now it's more visas cuz you don't like American College Kids ....so why don't you whining anti-American sissy asses take your Twinkle Toes Officials and go somewhere that doesn't have any?!