House immigration bill stuck on workers

Ianus · 04-10-2013, 09:57 AM

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...ers-89835.html

Quote:

As a secretive House group works toward a bipartisan fix to the nation’s immigration laws, at least two key issues are emerging as potential flashpoints that could force the two parties in different directions.

The group of eight lawmakers — four Republicans and four Democrats — initially agreed internally to consider a deal on visas for low-skilled workers cut by labor and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which have been working with senators trying to advance a higher-profile immigration plan. But Republicans are now privately ruling out that compromise, saying it is too friendly to labor.

These Republicans are instead moving to introduce their own legislation for low-skilled workers entering the U.S., according to Democrats and Republicans involved in the negotiations.

Republicans are also mulling over hefty restrictions on companies that hire higher-skilled workers. An employer that hires an H-1B worker would need to certify they haven’t fired anyone 90 days before or after having that employee work at the site — a method to ensure companies aren’t firing U.S. workers and replacing them with foreign workers. Some GOP lawmakers could introduce a bill containing this language in coming weeks, several sources familiar with negotiations said.

The House group initially planned to announce its immigration proposal this week, but several unresolved issues have delayed it. The Senate’s Gang of Eight — a bipartisan group — is also working on sweeping immigration reform, which is nearing completion after a deal on low-skilled workers.

Republicans considering going their own way on those two issues don’t signal the end for the House group. Their difficulties in signing on to the plan, however, highlight the different paths the House and Senate are taking in trying to craft a sweeping immigration overhaul.

As the Senate seeks to move a singular package, the House is likely to move its immigration overhaul in pieces, which will give lawmakers in both parties the opportunity to publicly vote against elements of the overhaul without bringing down the whole proposal. Whichever elements of the bill eventually pass the House will then be negotiated with the Senate’s legislation.

“I am very, very optimistic that the House is going to have a plan that is going to be able to go to a conference with the Senate in which we are going to be able to resolve differences,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

As the House returns this week, the immigration group will kick into high gear. The group includes Republican Reps. Sam Johnson and John Carter of Texas, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida and Raul Labrador of Idaho. Democrats in the group include Gutierrez, and Reps. Xavier Becerra of California, Zoe Lofgren of California and John Yarmuth of Kentucky.

There is no shortage of problems that can trip up the immigration effort. Outside conservative groups headquartered in Washington are battling over the cost of the legislation. For example, The Heritage Foundation will release a report in the coming days showing that the cost of immigration reform — securing the border, verifying workers’ legal status and new layers of bureaucracy — could worsen the nation’s budgetary troubles. The American Action Forum, an outside group closely aligned with House Republican leadership, says it would help cut the deficit.

Members and aides involved in the House’s immigration group’s workings say there are no gaping disagreements that could derail the effort.

Diaz-Balart, appearing with Gutierrez on Sunday, stressed that the group had no exact timeline for introducing its plan but he said he believes it could successfully arrive at bipartisan agreement.

“It’s got to be done this year, but our concern is to do it well, not quickly,” he said.

Members and aides involved in the group say besides the visa issues, there are few other disagreements. The pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country is all but hashed out — it will include a five-year probationary period, followed by another five years of learning English, paying fines and back taxes before an undocumented immigrant gets a visa. It would then take another five years to gain citizenship.

Currently, Republicans are negotiating with Democrats to eliminate a pair of demographic-specific visa programs. The Diversity Visa Program, which aims to give entry to countries underrepresented in the U.S., continues to be a target of the GOP. And Republicans are also seeking to tighten the visa category for siblings of U.S. citizens.

But these disagreements are illustrative of why the legislation still hasn’t been introduced in the House. The biggest hurdle is the low-skilled workers’ program. The AFL-CIO/Chamber of Commerce agreement allowed 200,000 low-skilled foreign workers into the U.S. The construction industry would get no more than 15,000 visas a year.

Republicans involved in the negotiations told POLITICO they could not support an “artificial cap” on the number of work visas the government could issue. They would seek to match the visa amount with market demand. The group also has not hashed out an agreement on agricultural workers.

Pianoswithoutfaith · 04-10-2013, 10:23 AM

Good , at least we know the gang of eight version will be introduce first

VeryNicePerson1 · 04-10-2013, 10:25 AM

Here is hoping that everything is indeed done correctly if they need to keep delaying like this.

Hopefully it isn't BS.

Sonawabich · 04-10-2013, 10:40 AM

Republicans: always trying to screw workers/labor.

EditorInChief · 04-10-2013, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ianus

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...ers-89835.html

I like the Republican approach. At least a smaller bill is less controversial.

At least the Dream Act is what both parties agree on.

Demise · 04-10-2013, 12:59 PM

Siblings of US citizens is backlogged for at least 12 years. How do you even plan on limiting that?

EditorInChief · 04-10-2013, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demise

Siblings of US citizens is backlogged for at least 12 years. How do you even plan on limiting that?

Why should we even consider Siblings?

Is a large population a good thing for the country we are already in? NO! It depletes the resources. Do you want to suffer from the pains of what Indians/Chinese are already suffering from?

Direct relatives only. No extended families!

Demise · 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EditorInChief

Why should we even consider Siblings?

Is a large population a good thing for the country we are already in? NO! It depletes the resources. Do you want to suffer from the pains of what Indians/Chinese are already suffering from?

Direct relatives only. No extended families!

So apparently siblings are not direct relatives? Also I think you got the wrong webpage, numbersUSA is this way.

About population argument, call me back once Wyoming hits a million people. US is not overpopulated, hell, outside of metropolitan areas it's extremely sparsely populated.

EditorInChief · 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demise

So apparently siblings are not direct relatives? Also I think you got the wrong webpage, numbersUSA is this way

I support legalization, which NumbersUSA strongly oppose.

When we deal with immigration, we do have to consider the issue of population growth. Nobody wants to reach a point when the government has to decide how many kids you can have for yourself.

A number of countries are regulating how many kids each family can have using forced means. Why? They cannot afford further growth of their HUGE population.

Do you want your children/grandchildren to first secure government approval before they are allowed to become pregnant? That day will for sure come if we do not control the number of immigrants the country admits each year.

2Face · 04-10-2013, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EditorInChief

Why should we even consider Siblings?

Is a large population a good thing for the country we are already in? NO! It depletes the resources. Do you want to suffer from the pains of what Indians/Chinese are already suffering from?

Direct relatives only. No extended families!

You honestly think something small like an immigration policy that allows full sponsorship will lead to over 1 billion people residing in the US?

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House immigration bill stuck on workers