CODE RED ALERT: Senate Voting on H-1B Increase

Date: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 12:44 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

November 01, 2005 No. 1358

Trouble is brewing in the Senate - and your help is needed to put a stop to it. The Senate Judiciary committee is in the process of voting to sell over 368,000 visas to foreign workers that want to come to the U.S. to take our jobs. At this point the only thing that will stop it will be a massive public outcry.

I will send more newsletters with further information but for now this is what you need to know to take action. Don't let the Senate get away with this!

FAIRUS has a free fax that you can send to your Senators. It has a pre-formed message that you can customize. Keep in mind that phone calls are the most effective way of getting your message to the Senate followed by faxes. Emails are routinely ignored.

Free Fax:
https://secure2.convio.net/fair/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=155

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http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=leg_legislationlistaa70#1

CODE RED ALERT: Urge Your Senators to Oppose Plan to Sell American Jobs to Fix the Budget Deficit

Your help is needed to flood the Senate with phone calls opposing a plan hatched by Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) to narrow the federal budget deficit by selling over 368,000 American jobs each year to foreign workers and their families. If enacted, this would constitute one of the largest immigration increases in American history under the guise of deficit reduction.

The Senate begins debate today and will soon vote on the bill containing the Specter plan, the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 (S. 1932). Please call your senators immediately and raise your strong objection to the Specter language. Ask your senators to strip out the Specter language by amendment, or to oppose the overall bill. Call the Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask to be connected, or find direct phone numbers here on our web site.

When calling, ask to speak to the legislative assistant dealing with immigration. Remember to identify yourself as a constituent.

Sample Message:

"I am a concerned constituent calling to express my opposition to language added to the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act (S. 1932) that sells American jobs to fix the federal budget deficit. Without a public hearing or even a warning, the Senate Judiciary Committee inserted language authored by Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) that increases revenue by selling over 368,000 American jobs a year to foreign workers and their families who will enter the United States and stay permanently.

The Specter language would increase the number of H-1B workers by 30,000 each year, increase the number of permanent employment-based visas by 90,000 each year, and exempt families of these new workers from the 140,000 annual cap on employment-based immigration. This will add an estimated 278,000 family members - many of them will also find jobs in the United States - to the number of high tech and permanent new foreign workers allowed under the plan. If enacted, the Specter plan would constitute one of the largest immigration increases in American history under the guise of deficit reduction.

Please tell Senator (insert name) to offer and/or support an amendment to strip this language from the bill, or to oppose the bill in its entirety. "

For more information, read our press release and today's Washington Times article, "Budget bill would boost green cards."

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https://secure2.convio.net/fair/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=155

Calls/Faxes Needed Immediately to Fight Stealth Foreign Worker/Immigration Increase

Calls/Faxes Needed Immediately to Fight Stealth Foreign Worker/Immigration Increase

Your urgent action is needed to flood the Senate with phone calls and faxes voicing strong opposition to a stealth effort underway to balance the budget on the backs of American workers by increasing foreign workers and employment-based immigration.

The Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday passed a measure as part of a budget reconciliation process intended to reduce federal spending by $120 million a year that sells hundreds of thousands of high-skilled American jobs over the next several years to businesses who will be allowed to import foreign workers.

The measure, proposed by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), dramatically increases employment-based immigration and H-1B "high-tech" visas for foreign workers in exchange for revenue created by increased fees on H-1B and L-1 visas. (See below for further details.)

Please take the following actions right away:

Click here to send a free fax to your Senators urging them to reject this section of the budget reconciliation package.
Follow your faxes up with phone calls reiterating your strong opposition to this outrageous proposal. Call the Captiol Switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask to be connected or find your Senator's direct office number here on our web site.
Specifically insist that these unacceptable provisions be removed from the bill either by the Budget Committee or by the full Senate if necessary.
Should these provisions be included in the reconciliation, urge your Senators to oppose the bill in its entirety.
Legislative Details:

The committee approved the measure 14-2 after efforts by FAIR allies to kill the proposal failed. Not surprising, the Chamber of Commerce and the business community are behind this new expansion of guestworkers and are expected to push for an even greater expansion when the legislation moves to the floor of the Senate.

The original Specter proposal sought to increase H-1B visas by up to 60,000 visas per year. Fortunately, the committee adopted an amendment by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) reducing that number to 30,000 visas per year.

The final package would:

Vastly increase employment-based immigration by recapturing unused employment-based visas from prior years for immediate allocations of up to 90,000/year.
Exempt spouses and minor children from counting against the annual cap on employment-based immigrant visas. (This could result in an annual increase of hundreds of thousands of employment-based immigrant visas.)
Allow those in the country with pending application to adjust their status before an immigrant visa is available, without regard to visa limitations.
Recapture unused H-1B visas going back to 1991 in order to make available 30,000 new H-1B visas per year. This would effectively raise the 65,000 to 95,000 for at least 10 years, not counting the 20,000 exemptions approved in last year's omnibus spending bill.
Impose a new $500 fee on employment-based immigrant visa petitions.
Impose a new $500 fee on recaptured H-1B visa petitions (the additional 30,000 visas over the original 65,000 limit).
Impose a new $750 fee on L-1 visas.
The budget reconciliation package is expected to come to the Senate floor shortly. Once approved by the Senate, a House/Senate conference will be held to iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget reconciliation package. The House version is far superior. It contains no foreign worker or employment based immigration expansions. The House version of the legislation simply raises revenue by increasing fees on L-1 visas by $1,500.

Our goal is to get the Senate to strip this language from the budget reconciliation. If the Senate passes the measure, we must press the House to refuse including it in the House/Senate conference bill.

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