Immigration Reform in June or September

NK74 · 11:19 AM

This is an article from a small industry journal. And yet it contains some juicy gossip:

Quote:

Silicon Valley CEOs who traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to lobby on behalf of their businesses came away with new hope that immigration reform isn’t dead in the water this year.

A delegation of 50 executives organized by Silicon Valley Leadership Group held 64 meetings with representatives and senators to cover immigration reform, curbs on patent trolls, tax reform, transportation and a range of other issues.

Meetings on immigration reform, the legislation most coveted by technology firms thirsting for foreign talent, yielded perhaps the biggest surprise of the trip, according to executives who attended. Going into the trip, CEOs, lobbyists and lawmakers were saying the issue was likely stalled this year.

“We had several meetings that gave us even more hope that calling immigration reform dead this year may be premature,” Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino said. “There’s a possibility that Capitol pundits and those often rightly cynical about D.C. will be proven wrong. We will have a sense of that in the next four to six weeks.”

Silicon Valley technology companies and the Obama administration have made immigration reform a primary goal this year. The companies are keen to retain and hire highly skilled workers who are forced to leave the country under the current system.

The administration shares that goal and seeks to rationalize the entire immigration system as the country’s demographics give Latinos greater electoral sway. Republicans fear that losses like the one they suffered in the last general election will continue until they can attract more minority voters.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group supports a comprehensive reform package that includes a market-based H1-B visa cap and a higher cap on employment-based green cards, according to a briefing document from the organization. It also advocates streamlining visa and green card application processes and eliminating caps on immigration per country by 2015.

The group would also like to see graduates with advanced-degrees and foreign degree holders in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines exempted from the green card cap.

While the Democrat-controlled Senate has passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill, progress in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has stalled. The House is considering piece-by-piece legislation.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group is agnostic on those approaches, urging action on either as soon as possible, attendees at the meetings said.

“Republicans in the House make it much more likely it’s a chunked up bit of legislation,” said attendee Mark Schroeder, a founder at Santa Clara startup Fastor Systems, which works on solid-state memory products. “Realistically getting it in five pieces is more likely to get it done and the people in the speaker’s office are optimistic.”

It's not the first time immigration reform advocates have had their hopes raised. Republicans have an incentive to appear bullish on the issue as midterm elections loom and any progress would represent a change in approach by Republican House Speaker Johnn Boehner's office.

The window for such action is likely either June or September, according to three people debriefed on the lobbying trip. The dynamics supporting that view are related to the election cycle and the House’s summer break.

Republican members of Congress have long sought a fragmented approach to immigration reform over a comprehensive immigration reform measure including provisions for low-skill undocumented immigrants and border control.

Assuming the House bills aren’t brought to the floor earlier, June would be viable before the Fourth of July break and summer recess. After that, September would be the next window prior to the November elections.

Three attendees who declined to be named because the meetings were off the record said that a member of Boehner’s staff said he was disinclined to push immigration reform forward during the lame duck period between the November election and January.

Impediments to immigration reform getting a House vote remain. Members of the Tea Party and House Republicans from districts with anti-immigrant inclinations could balk at any kind of reform. And Senate Democrats could push back against a fragmented series of bills coming out of the House.

“Half the discussions were on the more depressing side,” said Silicon Valley Bank President Greg Becker, who is the Leadership Group’s co-chair. “The other half was more positive, that something might get done on a piecemeal basis in the House. I’m more optimistic after the meetings.”

If nothing happens in 2014, 2015 still offers hope said San Jose State political science professor Larry Gerston.

“The shock for immigration may come next year because Republicans have ceded the minority vote to Democrats,” Gerston said. “Republicans increasingly understand they have to do something about this to cut into the minority vote.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/n....html?page=all

freshh. · 04-26-2014, 12:50 PM

It makes sense.

Several articles came out saying that the administration is likely to unveil deportation policy changes in two stages. I figure the small changes are just to placate folks for now and not stir up too much trouble with Republicans.

Should reform stall or even fail, the administration will be forced to move forward with the second part which may include an expansion of DACA.

We'll know by October.

swordfish · 04-26-2014, 02:23 PM

This is crap. GOP only wants to slow down Obamas deportation policies review.

VeryNicePerson1 · 04-26-2014, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordfish

This is crap. GOP only wants to slow down Obamas deportation policies review.

And it is up to Obama to laugh in their faces, and continue doing whatever he wants to do (whatever is within his power obviously).

We just have to hope Obama isn't bluffing, and actually follows through.

VeryNicePerson1 · 04-26-2014, 05:48 PM

This is just speculation on what makes logical sense if something was to be done, but in all honesty nothing will probably happen.

Obama issuing some executive orders is more likely than Congress passing anything immigration reform related.

I honestly believe Republicans are so full of hate and confusion, they probably couldn't even bring just anti-immigration bills on the floor, let alone the pro-immigration bills. The Republican agenda is anti-immigration, yet they seem to have no idea how to handle even that part of the spectrum.

VeryNicePerson1 · 04-26-2014, 05:52 PM

Quote:

If nothing happens in 2014, 2015 still offers hope said San Jose State political science professor Larry Gerston.

Seeing years being thrown around like this is so depressing, this is when you know an issue is a joke to Congress and probably won't ever see the light of day. Its as if a year is measured in days to this Congress..."Oh hey guys, it can't be done today, maybe tomorrow or the day after, its not that long a wait"

When people say things like oh if not this year, then maybe next year...oh wait next year is iffy too, maybe the year after that...and so on...then you know it is an issue that is destined to never be more than a discussion.

SK18 · 04-27-2014, 04:28 AM

Congress will never pass anything related to immigration unless they absolutely have to. They will pay for this by losing the Hispanic vote once again.

I only see Obama's EA doing anything this year. He might expand the DACA a little (no GCs or anything)

brucewayne · 04-27-2014, 11:24 AM

ill shit a brick if anything passes this year.

Rogue414 · 04-27-2014, 08:01 PM

Cool Story bro.

They need you!

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Immigration Reform in June or September