A great majority of the skill based non-immigrants waiting to legally immigrate to the US (in simple words, temporary worker visa holders waiting to get their green cards) are from South Asia. While these workers don’t win by numbers compared to illegal workers, they are definitely an asset to the American society. Largely law abiding, highly motivated and skilled, by some estimates, these people are responsible for starting upto 25% of the companies in the Silicon Valley.
These people have waiting patiently for years working their way through grad school or working in different jobs in different states in the hope of achieving that ever elusive American dream, and yet, when the US lawmakers had the chance to set the system right, they screwed this law abiding group, sending a strong message that in the US, illegal workers get the priority. US lawmakers often accuse President Bush of living in a bubble, but one wonders what kind of bubble are they themselves living in? Or maybe, they are not living in the bubble at all, because despite all the platitudes about this bill being forward looking, it actually is exceedingly favorible towards illegal workers. It seems like the lobbies of illegal immigrants were present behind closed doors when details of this bill were being thrashed out. You can read about some of the many flaws of this bill here, but to highlight just a few absolutely absurd ones:
- Instead of the current allocation of 140,000 immigrant visas (green card) to skilled workers, this bill brings it down to 90,000.
- It will require H1B holders to renew their visas on an annual basis.
- Under its merit based points system, an agriculture worker can earn 25 points for working 100 days a year for 5 years, while a skilled individual will get 10 points for working the same number of years!
- Economic contribution by the undocumented is recognized by awarding points for property ownership but not for people working legally.
Legal workers in the US have for years maintained the right of the United States to implement an immigration system that is fair and is in the best national interest of the country. By any reasonable standards, the current bill is neither in the best national interest of the US, nor does it offer a fair shake to the people who’ve been law abiding residents for years.
As of now, it seems like the powerful lobbies of Hispanic workers will be able to amend this bill even more in the favor of illegal workers while legal immigrants, majority of them do not have the time or the inclination to be activists, will be left holding the bag.
[...] highlights some of the flaws in the Senate Immigration bill, that is unfair to skill-based non-immigrants in the US. These people have waiting patiently for [...]
Lets face it, the hispanic lobby is pretty strong. This is a terrible mess if you ask me. And if the Democrats come to power it is bound to get worse. Hillary especially.
And that stat of 25%- are you sure about that? Seems pretty high to me.
hi Vikas,
i’m a reporter doing a story on the H-1B issue and would like to speak to companies and students who have been affected by the quota this year. I read in a SAJA post that a couple of your friends were affected. Can you please put me in touch with them.
thanks.
pls email me at to_creativewriter@yahoo.com
thanks.
Hi Vikas,
Congratulations to you (and Immigration Voice) for being able to interpret the immigration bill. We were of course alarmed that the employment based green card numbers would be reduced to 90,000 instead of the current number of 140,000. I just read Murthy.com’s last visa bulletin and to quote directly from that bulletin :
” The employment category is referred to as “merit.” This sets three different worldwide ceiling levels. For the first five years after enactment of the proposal, the level would be set at a number that is believed to be 247,000. Of this number, 90,000 would be set aside for eliminating backlogs and 10,000 set aside for exceptional Y visa holders.
For the following three or four years (until the first undocumented workers can adjust status), the level would be set at 140,000 with the same set aside for eliminating backlogs. Once undocumented workers can adjust status, the level increases to 380,000. There will be supplemental allocations for these individuals.”
So it looks like the total number of green cards issued every year for the first 5 years will be 247,000 of which 90,000 will be used to clear backlogs, 10000 for Y visa holders. I wonder what the remaining 147,000 will be used for.
What I like about the current bill is that it does away with the EB1,EB2 and EB3 categories and introduces a new merit based system. If you look at the way the points are awarded, you will see that most tech workers who have been working in the USA for the last 5 years and also have a graduate degree score almost full points in each of the section. This should mean that if someone like you or me applied for a new green card, you will get a green card really quickly and maybe even faster than the backlog processing times. So we might as well just submit a brand new application!!
What do you think ?
Atul,
To answer your questions.
“I wonder what the remaining 147,000 will be used for.”
That apparently will be used for the point based system but remember that the number is for everyone in the point based system and an Indian national we are still subject to the 10% cap. Also, there was some talk of diverting some numbers from that to the Z category workers.
“What I like about the current bill is that it does away with the EB1,EB2 and EB3 categories and introduces a new merit based system.”
Yes the merit based system is theoritically good but flawed in implementation. Under the current points system, a lot of agricultural workers and lowskilled workers might end up getting more points than you. Moreover, despite the points, you will still be subject to per-country limit of 10%. Considering the number of people with similar skill levels who are in the US, that might again lead to long wait times and queues.
“This should mean that if someone like you or me applied for a new green card, you will get a green card really quickly and maybe even faster than the backlog processing times. So we might as well just submit a brand new application!!”
Are you sure that you want to take yourself out from the existing queue and lose your position? With 10% limits still in place and the new system still getting into place, there is no guarantee that the new system will work. They don’t say anything about if we will need to apply for the labor again, or if the point system is free from employer restrictions and so on and so forth.
Our entire point is that this bill should have addressed this uncertainities for skilled workers instead of exacerbating them. It is really ironic that there will be 2.2 million visas /year for 5 years for illegal immigrants. If they’d used just 25% of that per year quota for just one year, they would have eliminated the entire skilled worker backlog.
Certainly we can hope that under the new point system, we will be better off, but with so much uncertainty in the bill, hope is not a strategy.
I was desperately trying to look for silver linings. But each time I read more about the bill, I find something more depressing, especially for the skilled technology worker. For example, no employment based green cards between the date of enactment and October 1, 2008 – if this article has all it’s facts right (http://www.ilw.com/articles/2007,0530-endelman.shtm). And the Sanders’ amendment that increased the H-1B fees three times over to support scholarships for sciences and engineering education – is this really going to increase college enrollments in these areas ? It will make hiring foreign workers (post docs, support staff) at non-profits like all U.S. universities financially prohibitive. Another blow for research and education! Getting rid of the extraordinary ability category is probably also an unwise decision.
In any case, I did my bit of leaving voice mail, sending email and then even faxes of my emails. I hope all your other readers are too!
Thanks Atul! I am glad that you did that.
I am just surprised by the passivity of a majority of people who are affected by this bill – I wish we could have everyone be more proactive to put more pressure on the lawmakers.