Friday, May 19, 2000 - Update on H-1B Legislation
From AILA - American Immigration Lawyers AssociationCongressional Recess; Time To Lobby on AILA Issues The House and Senate are set to recess for Memorial Day on May 27 and return on June 5. Both the House and Senate Members indicate that H-1Bs top their agenda and that both bodies most likely will take up this issue shortly after they return. Pro-immigration proponents also are urging Congress to address other important immigration issues such as NACARA equity, updating the registry date, and restoring Section 245(i).
What does that mean for AILA advocates? Now is the time to step up your advocacy efforts. You are more likely to be able to meet in your district/state with a Member of Congress (rather than a staffer) during recess; they in turn are more likely to give you more time to present your views.
Call the district offices of your Senators and Representatives and make appointments for the Memorial Day recess.
Judiciary Committee Approves Smith/Jackson-Lee H-1B Bill; Education and Workforce Committee Okays Revisions to H-1B Fee Programs
Recent events in the House Judiciary Committee have more than demonstrated AILA’s contention that H.R. 3983 (the Dreier-Lofgren bill) is the only H-1B measure that can pass the House.
Only after three tries during three scheduled days of votes did the House Judiciary Committee succeed in having a final vote on H.R. 4227, the H-1B bill sponsored by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX). On an 18-11, largely party-line final vote, the Committee on May 12 approved a substitute version of H.R. 4227, sponsored by Chairman Smith and Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX). All Republican members voted to approve the bill, and all but two Democrats, Representatives Jackson-Lee (D-TX) and Rick Boucher (D-VA), opposed H.R. 4227.
AILA and the business community continue to support H.R. 3983 as the only bi-partisan bill that meets the needs of industry, and view the substitute as not addressing the worst provisions in H.R. 4227. In fact, the substitute makes only the following minor changes:
Dropping a requirement that the names of H-1B recipients be posted on the Internet. However, the measure would still mandate that the company, salaries, positions, nationalities, and academic credentials of temporary foreign professionals be posted on the Internet. Thus, people could still identify, and possibly retaliate against, specific individuals.
Eliminating a provision that would have shifted verification of foreign educational degrees from the INS to the Department of State.
Eliminating a proposed requirement that employers must demonstrate to the Department of Labor (DOL) that they had hired more American workers and raised the average salaries of those workers over the previous year. The new version of H.R. 4227 still would require employers to show that they had raised the median salaries of American workers in the previous year. This provision would impose new paperwork burdens on businesses, and may subject all payroll records to DOL scrutiny.
Eliminating the requirement that DOL issue final regulations from the 1998 law before any new visas. However, the DOL must still issue final regulations by a date certain before October 1, 2000, although the failure to do so will not impact the availability of H-1B visas.
Inserting a new provision requiring a national study of recruitment and hiring of minorities and other under-represented groups in the high-technology industry.
The rest of the measure would remain as introduced, and would: Set a minimum salary level of $40,000 for H-1B recipients. AILA notes that many of the same Members of Congress who now endorse setting a $40,000 minimum wage for foreigners voted against a $1.25-an-hour hike in the minimum wage for Americans. This provision also seems to violate GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services).
Eliminate a provision allowing employers to substitute work experience for the educational requirements needed to obtain an H-1B visa. Employers everyday consider work experience in lieu of education in their hiring decisions. But, under the Smith/Jackson-Lee substitute, they cannot do so when hiring temporary foreign professional employees.
Require any company applying for an H-1B visa to have minimum assets of $250,000 or file additional paperwork. This provision is not only anti-small business, but also would limit the ability of start up companies to use H-1Bs.
Require H-1B recipients to work 35 hours a week. As noted by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), this requirement could conflict with the Family and Medical Leave Act and other federal labor laws as well as GATS.
Eliminate companies’ ability to bring in H-1B-qualified foreign professionals using other business visas.
During the initial May 10 hearing, Democrats (Representatives Lofgren (D-CA), Conyers (D-MI), Frank (D-MA), Berman (D-CA), and Nadler (D-NY)) tried unsuccessfully to link NACARA parity and a change in the registry date to the H-1B measure (See H-1B Plus article below). The Committee also approved two minor amendments to H.R. 4227. One, sponsored by Chairman Hyde, would eliminate teachers from the minimum salary levels for H-1B recipient. The other, offered by Representative Jackson-Lee, offers a partial fee waiver for schools that sponsor H-1B applications.
In contrast to those lengthy and confusing proceedings, the House Education and Workforce Committee approved by voice vote, with bi-partisan support, a new bill, H.R. 4420, introduced by Chairman William Goodling (R-PA), which would reallocate the funds received from H-1B filings to various education and training programs. Specifically, H.R. 4420 would ensure that any programs funded by these fees are directly used to provide education and training in H-1B qualifying occupations. The bill also would forgive loans to math, science and technical education teachers. Proponents of this measure argue that programs previously funded did not address the skilled worker shortages that are fueling the demand for additional H-1B visas. Republican Members are hopeful that this measure will be attached to the final H-1B bill that goes to the floor for a vote.
White House Endorses H-1B Plus Strategy; Press Conference Publicly Rolls Out Effort
The White House, in a May 11 letter to Congress, has weighed in on the battle over H-1B legislation by coming out in support of the “H-1B Plus” strategy. As outlined in the last issue of Advocacy Update, this strategy promotes the passage of NACARA equity of relief and a registry date change either on an H-1B bill, if possible, or on other legislation that moves during this Congress.
In his letter to Chairman Hyde and other congressional leaders, Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, wrote: “as we consider allowing more foreign temporary workers into this country to meet the needs of our high tech industry, it is critical that we take this opportunity to correct two long-standing injustices currently affecting many immigrants already in our country. The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) should be amended to provide equitable treatment for other Central American immigrants, and the Date of Registry should be changed to offer long-term immigrants with longstanding ties to this country the opportunity to apply for legal resident status.”
Republican leaders in the House said the proposal could complicate efforts to raise the H-1B cap by raising a partisan issue on what has become bi-partisan legislation. Chairman Smith denounced the move, saying that the Administration had “turned its back on American workers and pandered to illegal aliens.”
Less than a week later, on May 16, the H-1B plus strategy had its formal public debut at a Capitol Hill press conference organized by Jack Kemp, former Republican vice presidential nominee and co-director of Empower America, and Henry Cisneros, the President of Univision and former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. AILA supports the H-1B plus strategy, and joined with other organizations on a letter sent to Congress endorsing legislation to address NACARA equity of relief, restoration of 245(i), changing the Registry Date, and providing additional visas for family members of workers, in addition to increasing the number of H-1B visas this year.
