H-1B increase is being negotiated on Capitol Hill

Date: Friday, February 29, 2008 1:15 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1826 -- 2/28/2008 >>>>>

Roy Beck from NumbersUSA warns that a bad situation brewing in Washington DC.
A backroom deal on amnesty and guest worker visas is being negotiated.

Very few details are available at this time. While the Washington Times
article doesn't mention H-1B specifically, it definitely backs up Beck's claim
that a major deal on immigration is being negotiated. It's called the "Baca
Amendment" to the SAVE ACT. Unfortunately I don't have any details of what is
in the Baca Amendment but it appears that Rep. Pelosi is insisting that it
must contain a huge increase in H-1B and H-2B visas as well as some kind of F-
4 like what was in the SKIL bill.

I just heard that Pelosi was on the Charlie Rose show talking about the deal.
You might be able to catch a repeat and sometimes he archives segments. Go
here for more info:

http://www.charlierose.com/schedule/

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http://www.numbersusa.com/index

Speaker Pelosi Determined to Give Millions of U.S. Jobs to Foreign Workers?
Wednesday, Feb. 26 -- "Incredible as it may seem amidst talk of recessions,
job cuts and stagnant wages, NumbersUSA's Capitol Hill Team finds reports and
signs everywhere that House Speaker Pelosi is negotiating to give millions of
U.S. jobs to foreign workers," NumbersUSA President Roy Beck said today.

The Democratic Pelosi's backroom deals appear to be motivated by fear that a
group of freshmen Democrats may get most Republicans to help them force a vote
on the enforcement-only SAVE Act (Secure America with Verification
Enforcement). That bill -- with 147 bi-partisan signers in the House and
Senate -- primarily would drive millions of illegal aliens out of their jobs.
But Pelosi is trying to ensure that if the bill comes to a vote it will
include huge increases in H-2B and H-1B visas for foreign workers of all
kinds, and that it will include millions of legal work permits for all the
illegal aliens currently holding a job.

"I want every American to be aware of Speaker Pelosi's callous attitude toward
the 23 million, less-educated working-age Americans who do not
currently have a job," Beck said. "This group of Americans without any
college education and without a job increased by 2 million between 2000 and
2005 at the same time Congress was importing 1.5 million foreign workers of
the same education level, according to research by the Center for Immigration
Studies.

"Nobody in Congress has a worse grade (F-minus) than Nancy Pelosi when it
comes to protecting American jobs, American wages and American working
conditions from the downward pressures of massive immigration. As the head
Democrat, she stands in stark contrast to most of the newly elected Democrats
who are pledged to protecting American workers and fighting illegal
immigration. Unfortunately, Pelosi, the most radical Member of Congress on the
immigration issue, is using her power as Speaker of the House to try to wreak
even more damage on the most vulnerable of American workers and legal
immigrant workers in this country. I urge all concerned Americans to contact
their Members of Congress and express opposition to Rep. Pelosi's outrageous
push for more foreign work visas."

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http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=b4be803ab0500906a13e1566f4dbb82f

Breaking News: Five-Year Visa for Undocumented Proposed

News broke last week in the Congressional Quarterly that House Democrats and
Hispanic Caucus Members are working on several different pieces of
legislation, including one which provides five-year visas for undocumented
workers who pay fines and pass criminal background checks. Democrats say
drafts of different legislation have been written and are being vetted behind
the scenes. It has been reported that Rep. Joe Baca, chairman of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has seen a draft of the bill and has discussed
it in high-level meetings that included Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.),
Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-
Calif.), who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship,
Refugees, Border Security and International Law.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/immigration/entries/2008/02/11/paper_scaleddown_immigration_p.html

Paper: scaled-down immigration plan in the works By Eunice Moscoso | Monday,
February 11, 2008, 02:19 PM

House Democrats are crafting a "scaled-down" immigration reform measure
despite the political minefields that surround the issue, the Roll Call
newspaper reported Monday.

It says that Hispanic members -- including Rep. Joe Baca -- are seeking five-
year visas for illegal immigrants who pay fines and pass criminal background
checks. Baca, a California Democrat chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Baca said the prospects for a compromise package were discussed in high-level
meetings that included Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm
Emanuel, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who chairs a key immigration subcommittee, Roll
Call said.

The paper added: "It s unclear if the behind-the-scenes discussions will
actually result in a bill coming to the floor, but Democrats say drafts of
legislation already have been written and are being vetted behind the scenes."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080225/EDITORIAL/11760649/1001

Article published Feb 25, 2008
EDITORIAL: Pelosi's amnesty scheme

February 25, 2008

THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL - For months, leading Democrats like House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chief
Rahm Emanuel have tried to talk tough on illegal immigration. Mr. Emanuel told
The Washington Post last year that immigration is "the third rail of American
politics," adding that "anyone who doesn't realize that isn't with the
American people," earning himself angry denunciations from the far-left
fringe. Last month, Mrs. Pelosi joined House Minority Leader John Boehner in
announcing that the House-passed economic stimulus bill would "not allow any
taxpayer funds to be distributed to illegals." The Democratic leadership's
efforts to sound tough on illegal immigration have created serious friction
with some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which believes the
Democratic leadership is too timid about pushing for amnesty legislation.

If senior Democrats were really serious about a get-tough approach toward
illegal immigration, we would be urging the Republican minority to reach
across the aisle and work with the Democratic leadership to come up with a
genuine bipartisan solution. But unfortunately, the Democrats are putting
together an elaborate con job: using tough-sounding rhetoric while working
behind the scenes with open-borders advocates in the business community to win
support from from firms that have become very dependent on cheap foreign
labor. The goal of these Democrats -- and possibly the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce as well -- is to defeat a bipartisan bill that takes a no-amnesty,
enforcement-oriented approach to illegal immigration.
Specifically, they are very worried about the fact that a growing number of
moderate and conservative Republicans and Democrats (and even a few
liberals) are cosponsoring the Secure America through Verification and
Enforcement (SAVE) Act, H.R. 4088, introduced by Rep. Heath Shuler, North
Carolina Democrat.

The SAVE Act is an omnibus bill that would strengthen border security and
require that employers verify that their workers are legally present in the
United States. Forty-seven Democrats and 89 Republicans are cosponsoring the
Shuler bill, which is currently bottled up in the House Judiciary Committee,
where liberals like Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat and chairwoman of
the Immigration Subcommittee, will work to ensure that it stays there.
Cosponsors range from conservative Republicans like Rep. Tom Tancredo
(Colorado); Rep. Brian Bilbray (California), chairman of the Immigration
Reform Caucus; and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (California) to moderate and liberal
Democrats like Rep. Mark Udall of Colorado, Reps.
Sanford Bishop of Georgia and Artur Davis of Alabama (both members of the
Congressional Black Caucus); and Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of Texas, a member of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Right now, Republican supporters of H.R. 4088 are circulating a discharge
petition in an effort to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote. They
need 218 members' signatures, meaning that at least 20 Democrats would have to
take the supreme act of rebellion: directly defying Mrs. Pelosi, Majority
Leader Steny Hoyer and the rest of the party leadership to bring to a vote
legislation that the leadership wants no part of. Senior Democrats, worried
that they may not be able to keep the bill tied up in committee, have come up
with a Plan B -- muddling the issue by attaching a killer amendment to the
Shuler bill, which would come in the form of an amendment proposed by Rep. Joe
Baca, California Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

The Baca Amendment would give illegal aliens who pass a background check a
"five-year temporary worker permit" that expires on Dec. 31, 2012. It would
also provide employers who hired illegal aliens "safe harbor" (apparently some
measure of immunity from prosecution) for past hiring of illegal aliens. If
Mr. Shuler gets enough signatures to force his bill to the floor to be
debated, Democrats hope to neuter it by attaching the Baca Amendment.
If Mr. Baca's proposal were to become law, open-borders advocates could come
back later and pass legislation putting these illegals on a path to
citizenship. While not endorsing the Baca Amendment, a senior official with
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told Congressional Quarterly that he believed
there was "some kind of deal in the works."

Fortunately, not everyone in the business community is pushing for amnesty.
The National Federation of Independent Business, a leading group representing
small businesses, has endorsed Mr. Shuler's bill as drafted.
"I can't believe the leadership would be able to get any benefit from that,"
Mr. Bilbray says of Mrs. Pelosi's efforts to derail the SAVE Act with amnesty
legislation. "What happened last summer," with the defeat of the Senate
amnesty bill, "should be a warning," he told The Washington Times.

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