Senate fails to protect immigrants who arrived as children

The Senate has again failed to pass immigration proposals that would protect from deportation 1.8 million undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children.

After two recent government shutdowns - when Democrats insisted that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) be addressed in the budget and Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pledged to conduct a full debate on immigration policy, a week of attempted debate yielded nothing.

The immigrants, known as "DREAMers," were protected by the Obama-era DACA policy until President Donald Trump announced in September that he would start phasing out the program in six months.

The Senate voted on the four immigration proposals Feb. 15. All failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to proceed to a vote (one of them failed to reach a majority).

o A proposal submitted by Sens. John McCain and Christopher Coons would have provided a path to citizenship for DREAMers who meet certain criteria, and would have toughened border security.

Click here to read the McCain-Coons proposal.
It was supported by most Democrats and opposed by most Republicans. Click here to see the vote.

o A bipartisan proposal by Sen. Charles Schumer and the Common Sense Coalition would have provided a path to citizenship for DREAMers and allocated $25 billion for border security over the next decade. It would prevent legal permanent residents from sponsoring adult, unmarried children.

Click here to read the Schumer proposal.
It was supported by most Democrats and opposed by most Republicans. Click here to see the vote.

o A proposal by Sen. Chuck Grassley and backed by Trump would have provided a path to citizenship for DREAMers and allocated $25 billion for a border wall. It also would have ended the Diversity Visa Lottery and placed other restrictions on legal immigration.

Click here to read the Grassley proposal.
It was defeated - receiving only 39 votes of support. 36 of those came from Republicans. Click here to see the vote.

o A proposal by Sen. Patrick Toomey would have added text from the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act to the previous amendment by Grassley.

Click here to read the Toomey proposal.
It was supported by all Republicans and opposed by most Democrats. Click here to see the vote.

The DACA program's protections are scheduled to start expiring March 5, but it's unclear if they will. Two federal judges have issued temporary injunctions extending DACA while legal challenges proceed.

The Supreme Court is considering a Justice Department request to review those opinions before an appeals court has even taken up the case. If the Supreme Court accepts the appeal, it still could take months to rule on it.

For more, read the Washington Post story.

Update 2018-Feb-26: The Supreme Court refused to hear the DACA case until lower courts complete their reviews.

Deportation plan would cost taxpayers more than $30 billion

New Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidelines authorizing the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants from anywhere in the country will require billions of public dollars to be approved by Congress.

The DHS guidelines, building on executive orders signed by President Donald Trump, include:

The new plan leaves in place an Obama-era protection for an estimated 750,000 people referred to as DREAMers - who were brought into the country illegally as children.

Congress would need to allocate money for the border wall, detention centers, and additional immigration agents and border patrol officers.

The additional detention centers, agents and officers could cost $13 billion a year, according to an estimate by Politico. Meanwhile, the border wall would cost up to $21.6 billion, according to a DHS Report that Reuters claims to have seen.

For more, read this Guardian story and this BBC story.

Bill provides hard path to citizenship, easy path to tech companies

An immigration bill in Congress would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants while spending billions to track visas and secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

The bill would...

The process would be expedited for immigrants who arrived in the country before they were 16 years old, graduated from high school here, and attended at least two years of college or served four years in the military.

The bill also would make it quicker and easier for technology companies to bring in more foreign workers on H-1B visas. It would nearly triple the yearly number of these visas - from 65,000 to 180,000. In addition, a provision by Sen Orrin Hatch (UT) would remove the requirement for most companies that they first offer the jobs to Americans.

Technology companies such as Facebook and Microsoft have lobbied intensely in recent months for this loosening of restrictions. Evidence shows that it comes at the expense of American engineers and scientists. Even without Hatch's amendment, companies dodge the law that they first offer the job to a U.S. worker by creating requirements that would eliminate virtually any applicant. See our report for more on this.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT) proposed allowing citizens in same-sex relationships to sponsor their foreign partners for permanent resident status, known as a green card. Another Leahy proposal would have exempted immigration law from the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts federal marriage benefits to opposite-sex couples. Leahy withdrew the proposals after Republicans said they would not support the bill if the amendments were included.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill on May 21. It is expected to be debated in the full Senate next month. You can track the progress of this bill at GovTrack.us.

For more, read the Washington Post story

Tech companies lobby Congress to allow more foreign workers

Technology companies such as Facebook and Microsoft have been lobbying to loosen immigration restrictions for high-tech workers. They hope to include the new rules in the immigration-reform bill being considered by the Senate.

Relaxed immigration rules would save these companies money. But evidence shows they come at the expense of American engineers and scientists.

The companies claim they need skilled computer workers from overseas because there aren't enough qualified Americans. They are calling for an increase in temporary H-1B work visas. These visas allow immigrants to work for technology companies in the U.S. while they pursue permanent residency (green card). H-1B employees typically are paid less than an American citizen or permanent resident would be paid. The employee also must keep working for the same company the entire time, usually at least 4 years, giving the company another reason to prefer immigrants.

The provision would almost double the amount of guest worker visas allowed - from 65,000 to 110,000 a year - and makes the limit open to further expansion. It also would allow companies more easily to move workers from H-1B visas to permanent resident visas, freeing up more H-1B visas.

A study by the Economic Policy Institute released earlier this year shows that these foreign workers typically are no more talented or experienced than their American counterparts. It also shows there is no shortage of talented American workers. However, because the hiring H-1B workers reduces opportunities for them, many are leaving the field for non-technical, more lucrative ones such as finance and law.

To read the report from the Economic Policy Institute, click here.

For more, read the New York Times story.

The law requires that companies must try to find a qualified American employee before offering a job to a foreign worker. Companies dodge that restriction by placing employment ads with restrictions that are so specific it would be virtually impossible for someone to meet them. This video is of an actual seminar by a law firm that instructs companies how to do this...

Senators propose path to citizenship for all immigrants

A group of senators has proposed an overhaul of the immigration system that includes a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants.

Under the proposal, illegal immigrants without a serious criminal record could register with the government, pay a fine, and be allowed to live and work here legally, but that would be contingent on legislation beefing up border security and keeping better track of those in the country on visas.

The proposal calls for "a humane and effective system" for immigrant workers to enter the country, and for the development of a mandatory employment verification system to prevent identity theft and future illegal workers. It also would award a green card to immigrants who have obtained a master's degree or doctorate in science, technology, engineering, or math from American universities.

Four Democrats and four Republicans unveiled the plan Jan. 28, the day before President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a policy speech in Nevada about immigration.

You can read the five-page proposal here (.pdf file)

Human Rights Watch cautioned that while the language of the agreement is "a promising start," implementation might have little effect. For example...

You can read their analysis here