Demystifying the Skil Bill
Demystifying the Skil Bill
Date: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 11:12 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1590 -- 11/15/2006 >>>>>
There is a lot of confusion concerning the Skil Bill. Hopefully this
newsletter will help to clear up some of the questions.
TIMELINE OF THE SKIL BILL
April 7, 2006
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611) was sponsored in
the Senate by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). At this time S. 2611 didn't
contain increases to H-1B but it did introduce a guest worker program for
unskilled workers.
May 2, 2006
The ``Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2006'' or the
``SKIL Act of 2006'' (S. 2691) was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. John
Cornyn (R-TX). The Senate never voted on the Skil Bill but it was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA).
May 25, 2006
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611) was amended to
include the Skil Bill in what was called the "Manager's Amendment to the
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006" The Skil Act was inserted
into Subtitle B within S. 2611.
June 6, 2006
The Senate passed S. 2611 by a 62-36 vote.
June 29, 2006
The ``Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2006'' or the
``SKIL Act of 2006'' (H.R. 5744) was introduced in the House by Rep. John
Shadegg (R-AZ).
CURRENT STATUS OF THE SKIL BILL
The Skil Bill exists as standalone legislation in both the House (H.R.
5744) and Senate (S. 2691). It is also embedded in the Senate Comprehensive
immigration bill (S. 2611).
It's important to understand that all of the Skil bills are almost
identical to each other and they all originated from Cornyn's legislation.
For the Skil bill to become law, one of two things must happen (assume that
Bush will approve either way):
1) The House would have to pass the Senate's Comprehensive Immigration Bill
(S. 2611),
2) Both the House version (H.R. 5744) and the Senate version (S. 2691)
would have to be approved by Congress.
If either of these scenarios happen WE ARE SCREWED!
SUMMARY OF THE SKILL BILL
o H-1B Visas: Increases the annual cap of 65,000 to 115,000, automatically
increases the new cap by 20 percent each year the cap is hit, and creates a
new exemption to the cap for anyone who has an "advanced degree in science,
technology, engineering, or math" from any foreign university. No provision
was included that would reduce the cap if the previous year's limit was not
met.
o Conversion of H-1B to Green Cards: Workers are eligible for green cards
and would be allowed to stay and work in the United States for as long as
it takes to process the green card application. As long as an H-1B visa
holder applies for a Green Card, he/she can stay in the U.S. forever, so
effectively H-1B will no longer be a temporary visa.
o Employment Based Green Cards: The bill would increase the annual cap on
employment-based green cards by more than 500 percent, upping the current
cap of 140,000 to 450,000 until 2016 and to 290,000 thereafter and
exempting all immediate family members that currently count against the cap
today (spouses, children and parents) from the newly escalated cap.
o F-4 Visas: This new visa is perhaps the most pernicious part of the Skil
bill. It allows foreign students to work as they go to school, and then to
look for work for up to two years after graduating. They are put on a fast
track to a Green Card if they do find work, so they don't even have to get
an H-1B first! The F-4 visa will put foreign students in direct competition
for scarce internships, which will make it much more difficult for American
students to work and study, and to find work after graduation. When you
think about it, if there is a shortage of workers with advanced degrees,
why do foreign graduates who are supposedly the "best and the brightest"
need two years to find a job?
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