Thread: Another immigration bill

http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/sh ... .html#toc1


H.R. 5921, The High Skilled Per Country Level Elimination Act

H.R. 5921 would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the per country level for employment-based immigrants and to end the spill-over of unused immigrant visa numbers between employment-based and family-sponsored categories.

Detailed Summary

High Skilled Per Country Level Elimination Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants; (2) increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants; (3) establish the fiscal year worldwide level of employment-based immigrants at 140,000 plus the previous year's unused visas; and (4) establish the fiscal year worldwide level of family-sponsored immigrants at 480,000 minus the number of certain aliens not subject to direct numerical limitations plus the previous year's unused visas. (States that such annual level shall not be less than 226,000.)
Status of the Legislation

Latest Major Action: 6/3/2008: Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.


Comments:

This bill is definitely going to hurt professional immigrants from countries with low immigration rates. Diversity will be hindered.
Ska

This bill is long due. Makes no sense to talk about diversity here. For that, there is a separate diversity lottery here. Common-sense will tell you that China or India will produce more high-skilled professionals than a country say Nicaragua by their sheer size of population. Dont see why Chinese/Indians ought to be penalized by waiting in line for ages, while they are being productive members of the society.
TR

It's really the Indians that are effected by this problem. That's because the bodyshop "consulting" companies that they have set up here in U.S are abusing the system. I don't see why the others should pay the price. Keep the diversity and stop abusing the system.
Rahul

I strongly disagree with TR's and Enrique's comments here. Here is why. The bill is related to employment based immigration, in any socio-economic environment labor is a commodity which is driven through demand and supply. In a free economy, restricting market forces would not yield any good and neither would restricting the competition within labor market. Indian/Chinese skilled labor force would shift to different economies while this economy would wait some other demography to catch up with these two demography. Present estimates are India-4% and China-4.7% of total immigrants. You may choose to wait for say Afghani population (2007 - 1753 got PR though every country has 7% of EB based quota 100000+) to fill up the labor demands or get skilled labor (techs, teachers, nurses, researchers) irrespective of nationality. If there is some misuse of the system that should be dealt differently through enforcement. Enforcement of law should be separate from economics.
Enrique C

Ska and Rahul, you can say whatever you want, the bottom line is that for every 10 immigrants, there will be 5 or more from India and China. If Americans are OK with that, fine with me. I doubt it, though.
TR

Rahul,

I don’t buy the argument that only India and China produce the brightest people who are willing to work here in U.S. There are just as many people from Europe and the rest of the world who are just as qualified and who would want to work in the U.S. The problem starts with the H1-B visas, where most of them are taken by these Indian IT consulting companies. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think these IT companies hire non-Indian workers. There are many qualified people from the rest of the world who are willing to work here in U.S, but can’t because the majority of the H1-B visas is going to Indians and Chinese nationals. Perhaps, there should be a per-country quota at the H1-B level. I don’t think there is anything wrong with the current country quota; if some countries don’t use their quotas then these quotas roll into the countries that have higher demand.
MS

Rahul

'Indian/Chinese skilled labor force would shift to different economies '

Please do - we are waiting eagerly.
limbo

It makes sense to eliminate caps for EB1 and EB2, BUT NOT EB3!! Everyone knows of the sweat shops that hire only people from India. Supply and demand is bunk. It's all about gaming the system to gain an advantage and monopolize the limited number of visas. This one has to go down, BIG TIME.
ROW

I corroborate Enrique, TR and MS.

Indians have already made H1 visa almost private and want to make all EB categories same as well. Look up last fiscal year's numbers. Indians have double approvals than next country, which btw is China. They're using China and Mexico as shield to shove down everybody else's throat this partial and lucrative motivated bill from their selfish perspective.
J. Hirch

This is an extremely bad bill. [b]With India dominating not only the H1 visa quota and EB green cards applications but also body shops and “consultingâ€

How about a bill that would eliminate all visas and immigration until all American citizens are gainfully employed?

Originally Posted by avenger

How about a bill that would eliminate all visas and immigration until all American citizens are gainfully employed?

Why, why, uh, you sound like a 'Racist'! That's it! Your a RACIST, so there. Take that!

Seriously though, alot of the problem, like we see again and again, would be solved if we just stuck with obeying the law, but our politicians look at laws as something to be exploited through crooked loopholes.

In the case of H1-B they were only supposed to allow hires if an American could not be found to do the job. I remember from a long time that eye surgeons from Russia who performed radial keratotomy (sp?) were touted as an example.

Why can't one of our own dear members of Congress come up with an amendment allowing Americans to interview for a job if it is being offered to a foreigner?

...don't forget xenophobe, isolationist, etc. et al....

I still say there needs to be a change in philosophy in government as well as business. "Sustainability" needs to replace "growth" as the driving force behind this philosophy. There is no place to grow to other than to other countries, or planets should that become a viable situation, and that means saturation and globalization and the end to sovereignty! The southwest region of the US has surpassed its saturation point as far as population and natural resources. Where does it go from there?

Originally Posted by avenger

I still say there needs to be a change in philosophy in government as well as business. "Sustainability" needs to replace "growth" as the driving force behind this philosophy. There is no place to grow to other than to other countries, or planets should that become a viable situation, and that means saturation and globalization and the end to sovereignty! The southwest region of the US has surpassed its saturation point as far as population and natural resources. Where does it go from there?

Several years ago I read articles about the huge swaths of unoccupied land that exist in the eastern parts of the former Soviet Union. Now if you mention the word "Siberia" you automatically think of an arctic wilderness but the southern part of Siberia is really not that much worse than some of our northern US states.

http://uk.encarta.msn.com/media_4615473 ... beria.html

Siberia is a vast region comprising the Asian portion of Russia as well as northern Kazakhstan. Although much of the region has a harsh climate that discourages human settlement, Siberia is important economically because it contains valuable oil, gas, and mineral deposits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberia

Industry, developed during the interwar period (1920s and 1930s) and increased vastly during World War II, has declined greatly since the collapse of the USSR. At one point there were huge factories in Western Siberia and many even around Lake Baikal but these have largely ceased operation since the USSR collapsed.

Almost all the population lives in the south, along the Trans-Siberian railroad. The climate here is continental subarctic (Koppen Dfc or Dwc), with the annual average temperature about 0 ℃ (32 ℉) and roughly −15 ℃ (5 ℉) average in January and +20 ℃ (68 ℉) in July.[11] With a reliable growing season, an abundance of sunshine and exceedingly fertile chernozem soils, Southern Siberia is good enough for profitable agriculture, as was proven in the early twentieth century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Siberian_plain.jpg

Looks like the Russians or maybe the Siberians have it together. They are not overproducing just to make a buck.

I hope that you weren't suggesting globalization in your post millere!