Wage Debate Delays Guest Worker Visas for States
The Washington Post reports that processing for H-2B visas temporarily halted in March, causing delays for many businesses that rely on temporary foreign workers. Some employers had to wait weeks longer than they anticipated while officials in Washington discussed raising wages for H-2B workers. The H-2B program allows employers to hire foreign workers for seasonal nonagricultural jobs when they can’t find enough U.S. workers. Up to 66,000 seasonal visas are issued each year, mostly for landscaping and grounds keeping positions, though other occupations include amusement park workers, forest workers, housekeepers, and meat and fish cutters. The delays occurred at a difficult time for businesses preparing for the summer season. Processing resumed in April, with an average wage increase of 30 percent.
The H-2B program has been the subject of a lot of fighting between business and labor in recent years. Many employers view it as an essential source of getting legal workers; without it, they’d have to downsize. However, some unions and other opponents believe the H-2B program to be exploitative. In 2012, Wal-Mart suspended a seafood supplier that was found to have been abusing its H-2B guest workers, and a 2010 congressional investigation revealed that some hotel owners threatened H-2B workers that they’d be “sent home in a box.” Immigration reform could lead to a tightening of regulations for H-2B visas in order to prevent future abuse.
Currently, obtaining an H-2B visa requires three steps. An employer must first get approval from the U.S. Department of Labor to prove insufficient availability of U.S. workers to fill the position. The application then goes to USCIS to ensure that the employer is eligible to hire H-2B workers. Finally, the foreign worker must be interviewed at the U.S. Consulate in the native country to make sure the worker poses no security risks to the U.S. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples lobbied in Washington D.C. earlier this year for changes to the program, calling it “riddled with bureaucracy” and “outdated quotas.” The Senate’s recently approved immigration reform bill would likely expand the H-2B program, though a quota will still be established.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/17/stateline-h2b-visas/2525031/
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Rep Goodlatte: Immigration Debate “Absolutely” Extends Into Fall, Possibly 2014
In techcrunch.com’s recent interview with House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, the Congressman addresses claims that the immigration reform bill could “die” in the House of Representatives. Immigration reform has failed several times in the past, but Goodlatte contends that these failures occurred because industry groups tried to force controversial bills on the public. Goodlatte has established himself as a productive bridge between the technology industry and the rest of his party. Tech lobbies, such as Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us, have helped to educated congressmen, but they aren’t influencing members in the most anti-reform districts. He believes the new bill will pass, but it could take up to a year and that deliberations will most likely extend into the fall. He believes that Republicans are largely in favor of reform, and that they can work with Democrats to ultimately pass the bill, contrary to popular buzz. Goodlatte and the House leadership are working on a solution to allow an easier path to residence, but a more difficult path to citizenship in order to appease wary Republican officials.
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Senate Immigration Plan Wins Majority Support from Public
The Washington Post reports that a significant majority of American support the Senate-approved increase in border security along the U.S. Mexico border. However, some balk when faced with the proposed $46 billion price tag. The second major component of immigration reform—a “pathway to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants—also wins majority support from the American public but a poll in the House suggests a division along party lines on the subject: 58% of Republicans oppose a path to citizenship, while 55% of independents and 69% of Democrats support it. Additionally, the public seems more inclined to support the idea when the theoretical process of obtaining citizenship is a rigorous one, requiring multiple conditions to be met before citizenship can be procured.
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House Immigration Hearing Examining Immigrants Brought To U.S. As Children
The Huffington Post reports that leaders of the House Judiciary Committee are expected to endorse a path to citizenship for child immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally. Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor are working on a bill that targets these particular immigrants. Democrats may offer some opposition, as they are pushing for a comprehensive solution that deals with all 11 million illegally present immigrants in the U.S., not just certain groups.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/house-immigrationhearing_n_3638966.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
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DHS to Reconsider Immigration Petitions for Gay Couples
USAToday reports that the Obama administration is reviewing cases in which U.S. citizens were denied green cards for their same-sex spouses. The department will initiate a “concerted effort” to review all applications that were filed and denied after February 23rd, 2011. Same-sex couples can also request a review of their denied case, regardless of when the decision was handed down. Immigration Equality, an immigration advocacy group, says as many as 36,000 couples stand to benefit from the Supreme Court’s ruling on DOMA.
The Huffington Post adds that all new applications for visas based on same-sex marriages will be considered in the same manner as heterosexual couples.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/07/26/immigration-gay-marriage-doma/2589073/
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The State Department Announces Plan to Allow Cubans Multiple-Entry Non-Immigrant Visitor Visas
In a statement released on July 31st, the State Department announced a plan to make multiple-entry visas available to Cubans wanting to visit the U.S. This visa is valid for 60 months for a one-time fee and would allow Cubans to come and go in the U.S. without having to undergo the visa process multiple times.
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Janet Napolitano on Deferred Action Anniversary: It’s ‘Not A Long Term Solution’
The Huffington Post reports that the recent anniversary of DACA is both a cause for celebration and criticism. Napolitano commented that the program “will continue to serve as an important means by which young people brought [to the U.S.] as children can remain in, and contribute to, this great country.” She noted, however, that DACA was never meant to be a permanent solution, and it does not excuse the lack of movement in immigration reform. Between June 2012 and June 2013, 400,562 out of 557,000 applicants have been accepted into the two-year protection program. Sinca DACA doesn’t provide a path to citizenship or even a green card, policy makers are looking for ways to legalize young undocumented immigrants. Republican House members have tentatively named a legalization bill aimed at young undocumented immigrants: the KIDS act. Democrats are pushing for a path to citizenship that extends beyond the youthful demographic.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/janet-napolitano-deferred-action_n_3761893.html
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Immigration Bill Vetoed by McCrory in North Carolina
WRAL.com reports that North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory vetoed House Bill 786 based on changes that could potentially alter how employers use the E-Verify system to hire immigrant workers. Currently, seasonal workers hired for 90 days or less do not have to be checked through the system. The bill would have broadened the exemption to anyone hired for up to nine months. The loosened requirements, according to McCrory, could make it easier for some businesses to circumvent federal immigration law, resulting in undocumented workers taking the place of documented ones in the workforce. No funds were provided to conduct the studies recommended in the bill. McCrory called for a reevaluation of the bill. House Speaker Thom Tillis is consulting with other Republican lawmakers to potentially override the veto.
http://www.wral.com/immigration-bill-vetoed-by-mccrory/12779678/
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LPR Status Is Not Required for Derivative Citizenship Under INA §321(a)(5)
The Second Circuit held that a Petitioner, who “resided permanently” in the U.S. before turning 18, could claim derivative citizenship from his parents under INA §321(a)(5), despite not being an LPR.
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White House: Pathway to Citizenship Would Boost GDP by $1.4T Over Decade
The Hill reports that the Director of Domestic Policy Cecilia Muñoz and Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling released a new report claiming that the legalization of the nation’s 11 million illegally present immigrants would add 2 million jobs and boost GDP by $1.4 trillion in 10 years. This report follows a similar report released in July. This time the report hones in on the state-by-state economic benefits of passing the Senate’s bill. Some Republican lawmakers are less convinced that immigration reform could be positively influential on the U.S. economy. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama thinks the bill is too concerned with “corporate welfare” rather than the welfare of “millions of struggling workers and taxpayers.” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia has expressed opposition to new pathways to citizenship, despite reported financial benefits. In a recent press conference, President Obama isolated “internal Republican caucus politics” as an impediment to immigration reform.
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GOP CHIEF: Mitt Romney’s ‘Self-Deportation’ Quote Was ‘Horrific’
Business Insider reports that RNC chairman Reince Priebus is making efforts to close the gap between the GOP and Latino voters in the U.S. During the Republican primary campaign, Mitt Romeny repeatedly used the term “self-deportation” to describe his immigration enforcement policies; Priebus recently spoke out to distance his party from this term, calling it “horrific.” Priebus also rebuked Rep. Steve King’s incendiary comments on immigration, claiming such remarks were “hurtful” and “just not good.” King continues to complicate Priebus’ efforts by defending his comments and referring to the DREAM Act as a “backdoor way” for questionable characters to become U.S. citizens. Multiple state chairs and GOP officials have expressed support for comprehensive immigration reform, though they aren’t quite ready to get behind the Senate’s bill. Priebus believes that the progress made with Latino voters and the steps made towards immigration reform are important, especially those connected to the Growth and Opportunity Project. He says his party still has work to do in appealing to a wider array of voters.
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Republican Resolution on Enforcement Draws Criticism
The Washington Times reports that the Republican National Committee passed a resolution calling for the completion of a double fence along the southwestern border of the U.S. The resolution also calls for the creation of work permits for immigrants benefitting from DACA, as well as other law-abiding, working foreign nationals living in the U.S. Some committee members hesitated at this stipulation, claiming it could be misread as a path to citizenship. The permits would have to be renewed after five and two years respectively, as long as each individual could prove employment or enrollment in school. The Committee published a statement claiming that “most Americans oppose any form of amnesty that would propose a pathway to citizenship for [illegally present] immigrants.” Bruce Ash, committeeman from Arizona, stated definitively that the resolution “is not a pathway to citizenship.”
President Obama and other Democratic congressmen view a path to citizenship as a “nonnegotiable” part of immigration reform. Alfonso Aguilar, the former head of USCIS’s office of citizenship under George W. Bush, commented that the RNC’s resolution could drive a wedge between the Republican Party and Latino voters, a demographic whose approval the party is struggling to earn; President Obama secured 71% of the Hispanic vote in the 2012 election. Aguilar continued to say that he wants the American public to understand that his party only opposes a “special path” to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. He lauded Goodlatte’s stance on eventual citizenship for these immigrants through the traditional immigration process. Republicans want to avoid above all else a repeat of Reagan’s 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which granted citizenship to millions of undocumented immigrants.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/18/republicans-miss-chance-to-reach-out-to-hispanics-/
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