anzerraja
07-19 06:59 PM
Do you think it might be a good idea to ask people to pledge amount that they don't know how much is going to be ?
I think instead we need to do the following.
1. Clearly state in the very first message the need for creating this thread (pls include the business week article, Pappu's comments, comment from Aman's co worker - If you need help finding it, i can do it for you).
2. Also add to it that this is for the reimbursement of the expenses of the past. We don't really want to concentrate on how this is going to be handled in the future , may be someone can come up with suggestions on what should be set aside as administrative funds and things related to that. This is only for settling the amount already spent.
3. Only pledge is required stating the amount clearly and no funding is required at this time. We will instruct all the members who pledged once we get an expert advice on how to channel these funds.
If you can make these corrections it will be great.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?p=125874#post125874
Here..Let me know if this needs any modification...
I think instead we need to do the following.
1. Clearly state in the very first message the need for creating this thread (pls include the business week article, Pappu's comments, comment from Aman's co worker - If you need help finding it, i can do it for you).
2. Also add to it that this is for the reimbursement of the expenses of the past. We don't really want to concentrate on how this is going to be handled in the future , may be someone can come up with suggestions on what should be set aside as administrative funds and things related to that. This is only for settling the amount already spent.
3. Only pledge is required stating the amount clearly and no funding is required at this time. We will instruct all the members who pledged once we get an expert advice on how to channel these funds.
If you can make these corrections it will be great.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?p=125874#post125874
Here..Let me know if this needs any modification...
wallpaper 2011 BMW X3 xDrive20d Interior
pmb76
08-14 08:59 PM
I agree with Chanakya. Gave you green.
chanduv23
03-20 02:09 PM
Well, I know for sure, that your prevailing wage for H1b is different for prevailing wage for GC. GC is for future employment and ur current wage won't affect your GC.
It depends on your employer, if your attorney comes back with a "wage" for the job, it is upto your employer to agree to pay that wage "after you get your GC". As GC is many years down the lane, you can convince your employer that wage has nothing to do with your wage now.
If your employer agrees to this condition go ahead with GC filing, say you earn 60K and GC pay is 85K, just go ahead and file GC.
Once your 140 is approved, you may consider change in employment with PD portability, or once you apply for 485 and it takes more than 180 days, you can switch using AC21 for a better pay.
It depends on your employer, if your attorney comes back with a "wage" for the job, it is upto your employer to agree to pay that wage "after you get your GC". As GC is many years down the lane, you can convince your employer that wage has nothing to do with your wage now.
If your employer agrees to this condition go ahead with GC filing, say you earn 60K and GC pay is 85K, just go ahead and file GC.
Once your 140 is approved, you may consider change in employment with PD portability, or once you apply for 485 and it takes more than 180 days, you can switch using AC21 for a better pay.
2011 new BMW X3 xDrive35i Interior
funny
09-17 11:24 AM
No Audio...
more...
geesee
07-31 10:42 AM
smisachu and all other gurus above -
how do you guys manage to do options/commodities/fx trading without missing prod release? :) you all seem to have lot of knowledge about all this stuff and its good to learn something new (although one like me need to google to understand what smisachu is saying :D)
I invest in stocks and etfs but am very impatient when it comes to maximize profits.. i like to take small small profits (5% to 7%) instead of one big kill.. btw, can someone suggest good REIT etfs? (sorry, not related to original commodities topic)
how do you guys manage to do options/commodities/fx trading without missing prod release? :) you all seem to have lot of knowledge about all this stuff and its good to learn something new (although one like me need to google to understand what smisachu is saying :D)
I invest in stocks and etfs but am very impatient when it comes to maximize profits.. i like to take small small profits (5% to 7%) instead of one big kill.. btw, can someone suggest good REIT etfs? (sorry, not related to original commodities topic)
BayBoy
07-14 10:11 AM
Good Luck Guys!!!!!!!!!!!http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif
:)
:)
more...
deepakd
04-19 11:06 AM
Receipt No 2575-4357-9878-1984
I just contributed $200. I appreciate all of you guys hard work for this.
My GC processing has noy been started yet. It would be started probably within 6 mos by my new emplyer under eb3
I got 5 years in my H1B out of 6
I just contributed $200. I appreciate all of you guys hard work for this.
My GC processing has noy been started yet. It would be started probably within 6 mos by my new emplyer under eb3
I got 5 years in my H1B out of 6
2010 2009 Lumma BMW CLR X 650 GT
willigetagc
08-25 12:11 PM
I have sent money using icicibank's M2I service . Usually they take 5 working days to remit the money(atleast 8 days to transfer). I made four transactions last week(mon, tue, wed, thu) and they already remitted the money using low conversion rate.
It just took less than three days to remit the money this time. Bank deliberately did this just to steal money from me. I have lost more than 35 paise per dollar and it comes close to Rs 10,000. This is ridiculous and its a big robbery.
How do i get my money back? How do i make a compliant about this bank? They have no one to assist me over the phone.
What to do now?. Rs 10,000 may look too small for us. But how can we let banks to act like a criminals.
Any help/suggestion/comment?
They just did what the law allows them to do. These things happen according to established practices. Be happy that they are efficient.
What would you do if the opposite had happened and if you were in the money because the currency moved in the opposite direction after you initiated the transfer. Will you return the money to the bank?
So, stop whining. If you are so smart that you can predict currency movements, then hedge your money transfer with some other instrument.
It just took less than three days to remit the money this time. Bank deliberately did this just to steal money from me. I have lost more than 35 paise per dollar and it comes close to Rs 10,000. This is ridiculous and its a big robbery.
How do i get my money back? How do i make a compliant about this bank? They have no one to assist me over the phone.
What to do now?. Rs 10,000 may look too small for us. But how can we let banks to act like a criminals.
Any help/suggestion/comment?
They just did what the law allows them to do. These things happen according to established practices. Be happy that they are efficient.
What would you do if the opposite had happened and if you were in the money because the currency moved in the opposite direction after you initiated the transfer. Will you return the money to the bank?
So, stop whining. If you are so smart that you can predict currency movements, then hedge your money transfer with some other instrument.
more...
adreg
04-07 11:50 AM
I just put in my $100.
This NPR-like drive works (especially when Ira Glass at NPR pushes you along) :)
More seriously though, good work IV core folk and volunteers. This is the first forum that I find thoughtful, smart and tactful and tuned into the legilsative framework on Capitol Hill. Good work.
AD
This NPR-like drive works (especially when Ira Glass at NPR pushes you along) :)
More seriously though, good work IV core folk and volunteers. This is the first forum that I find thoughtful, smart and tactful and tuned into the legilsative framework on Capitol Hill. Good work.
AD
hair Up front, BMW#39;s dual grille
amulchandra
03-31 10:49 PM
After my AP approval notice email, all our(four) 485s got an LUD on Mar 31st 2009.
I applied AP only for myself and rest of the family did not.Service center is NSC. 485 recpt date is sept 11 2007.PD 2006 eb3/I. But we were issued one year EAD though eligible for 2 years since our PD is not current. Could it be because they sent 2nd FP notices? Are they sending FP notices for the second time these days? I heard some where that USCIS now can keep the FP notices valid for longer time than 15 months. We did ours in 2007 october. I know that USCIS has strange ways of dealing with things. But still....any insight is appreciated.
thank you
Amul.
I applied AP only for myself and rest of the family did not.Service center is NSC. 485 recpt date is sept 11 2007.PD 2006 eb3/I. But we were issued one year EAD though eligible for 2 years since our PD is not current. Could it be because they sent 2nd FP notices? Are they sending FP notices for the second time these days? I heard some where that USCIS now can keep the FP notices valid for longer time than 15 months. We did ours in 2007 october. I know that USCIS has strange ways of dealing with things. But still....any insight is appreciated.
thank you
Amul.
more...
eb3_nepa
02-22 05:49 PM
Guys lets face it, Currently we are up against a wall. This is absolutely THE worst time when it comes to immigration. We have to be quite careful about the kinda steps we take esp when it comes to immigration as the lawmakers have bundled us up as a banner of "immigrants".
Is there any pacca news on the date when the Senate take up this "immigration reform" bill? The extremely sad truth is that we can ONLY TRY. This is NOT in our hands and we have NO bargaining power here. That makes it all the more necessary that QGA guides us all the way and that we can pay for QGA all the way. A quick q to the gurus. Right now what is the status with QGA? I mean we have 30k they need 200k. So till we pay 200K they do nothing or are they doing this in steps like for 50K we take u to point A and for 50K more we take u to point B etc? Often my friends and people i talk to ask me that question and come up answerless :)
Please dont get me wrong, i m in NO way quitting or bringing people down, just keeping in touch with reality. :)
Is there any pacca news on the date when the Senate take up this "immigration reform" bill? The extremely sad truth is that we can ONLY TRY. This is NOT in our hands and we have NO bargaining power here. That makes it all the more necessary that QGA guides us all the way and that we can pay for QGA all the way. A quick q to the gurus. Right now what is the status with QGA? I mean we have 30k they need 200k. So till we pay 200K they do nothing or are they doing this in steps like for 50K we take u to point A and for 50K more we take u to point B etc? Often my friends and people i talk to ask me that question and come up answerless :)
Please dont get me wrong, i m in NO way quitting or bringing people down, just keeping in touch with reality. :)
hot 2008 BMW X3 3.0si Schaumburg,
webm
03-13 01:24 PM
Folks,
This my copyright and very much pertain to our situation:
*********************
I left my world in search of prosperity
The prosperity is taking an eternity
My struggle is long and daunting
Making it more and more frustrating
Life at times seems uncontrollable
Flowing with the time unstoppable
Graying hairs testify for the feeling
Fat belly making me further unappealing
Sometimes I think of going back
Try to gather the courage that I lack
But the world I left is not the same any more.
And the world I am in, has lost its lure.
I am on the crossroad of my life
One is forward, one is left and other is right.
I don’t like the choices shown
May be I would have to create a world of my own
***************
Thanks
Very nice dude!! keep it up..
This my copyright and very much pertain to our situation:
*********************
I left my world in search of prosperity
The prosperity is taking an eternity
My struggle is long and daunting
Making it more and more frustrating
Life at times seems uncontrollable
Flowing with the time unstoppable
Graying hairs testify for the feeling
Fat belly making me further unappealing
Sometimes I think of going back
Try to gather the courage that I lack
But the world I left is not the same any more.
And the world I am in, has lost its lure.
I am on the crossroad of my life
One is forward, one is left and other is right.
I don’t like the choices shown
May be I would have to create a world of my own
***************
Thanks
Very nice dude!! keep it up..
more...
house 2010 BMW X3 xDrive30i Stratham
eastindia
01-19 10:09 AM
Question to everyone criticizing consulting companies
If you have a choice to have a EB3 2001 PD/EB2 2003 PD substitute labor from a consulting company, what will you do?
Will you not want to contact them and file your greencard through them?
So stop this bullshit about criticizing consulting companies. There are real human beings working in this those companies. Just because you do not work in consulting companies does not give you any right to post negative about them.
If you have a choice to have a EB3 2001 PD/EB2 2003 PD substitute labor from a consulting company, what will you do?
Will you not want to contact them and file your greencard through them?
So stop this bullshit about criticizing consulting companies. There are real human beings working in this those companies. Just because you do not work in consulting companies does not give you any right to post negative about them.
tattoo Bmw X3 2011 Interior.
wikipedia_fan
03-31 11:42 AM
To me; it looks like it could be a shift in change of policy. In the denial notice; it is the same officer number who sent the notice of intent to deny. Therefore; it is not a training issue; looks like something else is happening.
training issue is when they send straght denial after 140 is revoked.
Can you upload the denial notice - off course you can erase the confidential information. It will be useful to us.
training issue is when they send straght denial after 140 is revoked.
Can you upload the denial notice - off course you can erase the confidential information. It will be useful to us.
more...
pictures 2008 BMW X3 3.0si Merriam, KS
poorslumdog
03-29 02:19 PM
Came to USA on H1B, paid for the H1B fees(at that time didn't know it was illegal to do so)
however after coming here , Paid for my own ticket and landed here on start of january 2011.
Confirmed my arrival to the employer too. Since my leaving the home country there has not been any mail correspondence from the employer , though i have been writing many. Talked to him over the phone and he said he wasn't responsible for my arrival as he doesn't have any project for me. Waited to get another job as a H1B TXFR but stuck with trnsfrs issues due to non availablity of paystubs from him.
I never reported to work as he said dont come to office, dont have any paystubs, but have all my H1B papers , I97 and Employment offer from that consultant. I have decided to leave back to my home country but not before reporting this blood sucker to DOL.
I need to clarify a few things before i nail these blood suckers
1. How long before i board my flight back home , should i send the documents to DOL
2. I have the originals of H1B filing and LCA and I94, are they rquired in originals
or copy to send to DOL
3. What other documents should i send alongwith
4. Do you think my case will get weaker if iam not here ? As i am flying back to my home country.
5. I dont want these suckers to go scott free, so how to build my case here , can i ask the DOL to recover my wages for 4 months i wasnt getting paid.
I do not care if i get any wages or not from them , but i really wanna see the locks on the gates of this company. They shouldn't take H1B and its applicant for scapegoats.
Any advices are welcome to help me bring these guys to justice.
Did you get the invitation letter addressed to the IO at POE by your employer. Why did he invite you here in the first place when there is no project.
however after coming here , Paid for my own ticket and landed here on start of january 2011.
Confirmed my arrival to the employer too. Since my leaving the home country there has not been any mail correspondence from the employer , though i have been writing many. Talked to him over the phone and he said he wasn't responsible for my arrival as he doesn't have any project for me. Waited to get another job as a H1B TXFR but stuck with trnsfrs issues due to non availablity of paystubs from him.
I never reported to work as he said dont come to office, dont have any paystubs, but have all my H1B papers , I97 and Employment offer from that consultant. I have decided to leave back to my home country but not before reporting this blood sucker to DOL.
I need to clarify a few things before i nail these blood suckers
1. How long before i board my flight back home , should i send the documents to DOL
2. I have the originals of H1B filing and LCA and I94, are they rquired in originals
or copy to send to DOL
3. What other documents should i send alongwith
4. Do you think my case will get weaker if iam not here ? As i am flying back to my home country.
5. I dont want these suckers to go scott free, so how to build my case here , can i ask the DOL to recover my wages for 4 months i wasnt getting paid.
I do not care if i get any wages or not from them , but i really wanna see the locks on the gates of this company. They shouldn't take H1B and its applicant for scapegoats.
Any advices are welcome to help me bring these guys to justice.
Did you get the invitation letter addressed to the IO at POE by your employer. Why did he invite you here in the first place when there is no project.
dresses mw x3 ii picture
VivekAhuja
06-12 03:22 PM
It is true that EB3 is unfortunate but the language of the law clearly states that Eb3 will get rolled over numbers that are not used by EB1 and EB2. There is absolutely no confusion about the language. However, it is to be noted that in an ideal situation where the wait is minimal (for which the law was made in the first place), this works perfect!
Unfortunately, EB2 is back logged more than enough for Eb3 to get any numbers trickling down.
Again, the language is simple and easy to understand.
Unfortunately, EB2 is back logged more than enough for Eb3 to get any numbers trickling down.
Again, the language is simple and easy to understand.
more...
makeup 2008 BMW X3 3.0si Winter Park,
GC_1000Watt
01-08 06:16 PM
All the wasted numbers can be recaptured when recapture bill passes!!!!
Do you think it will happen in near future? I seriously dont think so.
Do you think it will happen in near future? I seriously dont think so.
girlfriend Interior View 2011 BMW X3
boreal
03-13 12:03 PM
Yes, I guess the slowdown will happen when it hits the 2005 mark when PERM was introducted and a lot of EB3 were converted into EB2
I believe overall, in 2005 few LCs got certified compared to the previous years..so i am guessing the real slowdown will start from Dec 2005...
I believe overall, in 2005 few LCs got certified compared to the previous years..so i am guessing the real slowdown will start from Dec 2005...
hairstyles cabin of the BMW X3.
eb3India
03-08 11:17 AM
Growing up I use to goto an organization wearing kakhi-chaddi, so I grow up hating Mahtma Gandhi (but that ws long time ago),
I now has so much respect for this Man, I wonder how was he able to cheer and integrate my fellow Desi's ;) almost 60-80 years ago, if I think about it now seems almost like a miracle.
We really need to look into his life and find some answeres, as we have long battle and it is just getting started
I now has so much respect for this Man, I wonder how was he able to cheer and integrate my fellow Desi's ;) almost 60-80 years ago, if I think about it now seems almost like a miracle.
We really need to look into his life and find some answeres, as we have long battle and it is just getting started
rheoretro
11-13 02:46 PM
- First, it is highly unlikely that Hastert will ever, ever support CIR. That itself is a "red flag" from a post by "Red card."
- Actions speak louder than words. If Murtha becomes the majority leader in house than Democrat agenda for 2008 presidential agenda will be Iraq not immigration. That doesn't mean no immigration reform, just not in the "lame-duck" session.
- Lets wait for next year for any progress on immigration.
GCS999 - excellent points! I asked someone yesterday why they even care about Hastert. He's toast, anyway.There's a very revealing article in the Washington Post today, which says that the Dems will tread cautiously, and perhaps even slowly, on immigration. And they have bigger fish to fry, the number one being Iraq. Not sure what the needless hullabaloo about the lame duck session is. People need to stop crying wolf.
Democrats May Proceed With Caution on Immigration
Explosive Issue Not A Top Priority For Incoming Leaders
By Darryl Fears and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 13, 2006; A03
When election results started rolling in Tuesday, Cecilia Mu?oz said that she and other immigration advocates were "holding our breath." One by one, Republicans who had fought tooth and nail for stricter immigration laws fell, turning control of Congress over to the Democrats.
By morning, a 700-mile Mexican border fence passed by Republicans in a pre-election gambit had fallen flat with voters. A sharply worded GOP bill that targeted illegal immigrants and spurred marches by millions of Latinos in the spring appeared likely to fade into memory.
"I think this is the best environment we've had on the issue in quite some time," said Cassandra Q. Butts, a senior vice president for the pro-immigration Center for American Progress.
But when it comes to immigration, things are never easy. In the days after the election, Democratic leaders surprised pro-immigration groups by not including the issue on their list of immediate priorities. Experts said the issue is so complicated, so sensitive and so explosive that it could easily blow up in the Democrats' faces and give control of Congress back to Republicans in the next election two years from now. And a number of Democrats who took a hard line on illegal immigration were also elected to Congress.
"It's not without its challenges, for sure," said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "You've got opposition in both parties. You still have restrictionists in the Republican Party. You have Democrats who've been reluctant to move on any kind of worker program."
Butterfield predicted that lobbyists and Democrats have less than a year to move legislation that could put some 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to legal residency, before the looming 2008 elections make a deal politically impossible. And analysts say the fate of President Bush's proposal to create a temporary worker program for 200,000 immigrants is in doubt, with labor's allies in charge.
In recent days, advocates have been burning up the phone lines talking to one another and to try to determine whom House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the presumed speaker of the next Congress, will appoint to key committees, and how the new Democratically controlled Congress will approach the issue.
Major challenges lay ahead. The Mexican border remains a sieve where an estimated 100,000 immigrants sneak into the country every year. Conservatives in the House, and some Democrats, want the border sealed with manpower, fencing and technological gadgets before they will even consider guest workers.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which opposes increased immigration, said Democrats should implement an enforcement program first. Anything else might be political suicide.
"The Democrats need to get their majority reelected in the next two years," Krikorian said. "My sense is that the Democrats have grown up enough to know they can't get reelected trying to get everything they want."
Immigration experts are on the lookout for the kind of compromises that led to the flawed immigration reform laws of 1986 and 1996. In those years, a White House and Congress split between the two parties passed watered-down laws requiring employers to check the legal status of new hires to satisfy businesses and immigration advocates. They also failed to give enforcement agencies the money, staff, technology or practical ability to do the job.
The miscues paved the way for an explosion of illegal immigration.
"The question is, will this just be another split-the-baby approach, such as we saw in 1986," said Robert Bonner, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2003 to 2005, "or are we actually going to do something that is going to seriously achieve the objectives of controlling the border?"
At the White House Friday, the Bush administration struck a bipartisan chord, trumpeting both border enforcement and a guest worker initiative. "The President believes a temporary guest worker program, where you will know if you're in or you're out, is going to relieve pressure on the border and also reduce the incentive for people to travel from Central America through Mexico in search of such jobs," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Bush supports a proposal by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to allow foreign nationals currently outside the country to work in the United States temporarily. Illegal immigrants now in the country could work too, but only if they pay a $2,000 penalty for breaking the law, pay back taxes, undergo a criminal check, learn English, take civics lessons, go to the back of the employment line and then work six years with no legal problems.
The McCain-Kennedy bill would also strengthen the border and create a computerized system to check the legal status of workers. The Senate bill would authorize spending $400 million to expand a pilot program used by 5,000 employers to cover new hires by more than 8 million U.S. companies within 18 months.
But some experts are skeptical. The non-partisan Migration Policy Institute has said that the pilot system is flawed, will take at least three years to implement, and will fail unless it is made much more accurate. The MPI panel, co-chaired by former congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) and former senator Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) also said other steps are needed, such as producing tamper-proof Social Security or other employment ID card based on fingerprints or other unique identifying features.
Others say thousands of immigration investigators are needed to verify legal workers and track down those who remain in the country illegally.
James W. Ziglar, former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said if Congress does take up an overhaul, "the recognition that enforcement has to be of equal stature is something that will occur this time, because the lessons learned from the 1986 act are still burning very brightly in the minds of people on both sides of the debate."
Mu?oz, a vice president at the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino civil rights group, said Democrats should move carefully ahead with a plan that satisfies both sides.
"This notion that it's dangerous to vote to support comprehensive immigration reform I believe to be false," she said. In Arizona, she said, voters rejected anti-immigration Republicans Randy Graf and Rep. J.D. Hayworth.
But, to show how complicated the issue is, Arizona voters also approved three referenda to make life tougher for illegal immigrants.
Anti-immigration Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who was distraught after the election, believing a guest worker program was inevitable under the Democrats, now says he's changed his mind.
"It seemed to me that it was not going to be as easy for them as I had anticipated or feared," Tancredo said. "They're not putting it out there as their number one, out-of-the-box issue."
The more he thought about the issue, the more cloudy the future seemed.
"I don't know," he said. A temporary guest worker program "could certainly happen. I may be just skipping past the graveyard."
- Actions speak louder than words. If Murtha becomes the majority leader in house than Democrat agenda for 2008 presidential agenda will be Iraq not immigration. That doesn't mean no immigration reform, just not in the "lame-duck" session.
- Lets wait for next year for any progress on immigration.
GCS999 - excellent points! I asked someone yesterday why they even care about Hastert. He's toast, anyway.There's a very revealing article in the Washington Post today, which says that the Dems will tread cautiously, and perhaps even slowly, on immigration. And they have bigger fish to fry, the number one being Iraq. Not sure what the needless hullabaloo about the lame duck session is. People need to stop crying wolf.
Democrats May Proceed With Caution on Immigration
Explosive Issue Not A Top Priority For Incoming Leaders
By Darryl Fears and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 13, 2006; A03
When election results started rolling in Tuesday, Cecilia Mu?oz said that she and other immigration advocates were "holding our breath." One by one, Republicans who had fought tooth and nail for stricter immigration laws fell, turning control of Congress over to the Democrats.
By morning, a 700-mile Mexican border fence passed by Republicans in a pre-election gambit had fallen flat with voters. A sharply worded GOP bill that targeted illegal immigrants and spurred marches by millions of Latinos in the spring appeared likely to fade into memory.
"I think this is the best environment we've had on the issue in quite some time," said Cassandra Q. Butts, a senior vice president for the pro-immigration Center for American Progress.
But when it comes to immigration, things are never easy. In the days after the election, Democratic leaders surprised pro-immigration groups by not including the issue on their list of immediate priorities. Experts said the issue is so complicated, so sensitive and so explosive that it could easily blow up in the Democrats' faces and give control of Congress back to Republicans in the next election two years from now. And a number of Democrats who took a hard line on illegal immigration were also elected to Congress.
"It's not without its challenges, for sure," said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "You've got opposition in both parties. You still have restrictionists in the Republican Party. You have Democrats who've been reluctant to move on any kind of worker program."
Butterfield predicted that lobbyists and Democrats have less than a year to move legislation that could put some 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to legal residency, before the looming 2008 elections make a deal politically impossible. And analysts say the fate of President Bush's proposal to create a temporary worker program for 200,000 immigrants is in doubt, with labor's allies in charge.
In recent days, advocates have been burning up the phone lines talking to one another and to try to determine whom House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the presumed speaker of the next Congress, will appoint to key committees, and how the new Democratically controlled Congress will approach the issue.
Major challenges lay ahead. The Mexican border remains a sieve where an estimated 100,000 immigrants sneak into the country every year. Conservatives in the House, and some Democrats, want the border sealed with manpower, fencing and technological gadgets before they will even consider guest workers.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which opposes increased immigration, said Democrats should implement an enforcement program first. Anything else might be political suicide.
"The Democrats need to get their majority reelected in the next two years," Krikorian said. "My sense is that the Democrats have grown up enough to know they can't get reelected trying to get everything they want."
Immigration experts are on the lookout for the kind of compromises that led to the flawed immigration reform laws of 1986 and 1996. In those years, a White House and Congress split between the two parties passed watered-down laws requiring employers to check the legal status of new hires to satisfy businesses and immigration advocates. They also failed to give enforcement agencies the money, staff, technology or practical ability to do the job.
The miscues paved the way for an explosion of illegal immigration.
"The question is, will this just be another split-the-baby approach, such as we saw in 1986," said Robert Bonner, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2003 to 2005, "or are we actually going to do something that is going to seriously achieve the objectives of controlling the border?"
At the White House Friday, the Bush administration struck a bipartisan chord, trumpeting both border enforcement and a guest worker initiative. "The President believes a temporary guest worker program, where you will know if you're in or you're out, is going to relieve pressure on the border and also reduce the incentive for people to travel from Central America through Mexico in search of such jobs," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Bush supports a proposal by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to allow foreign nationals currently outside the country to work in the United States temporarily. Illegal immigrants now in the country could work too, but only if they pay a $2,000 penalty for breaking the law, pay back taxes, undergo a criminal check, learn English, take civics lessons, go to the back of the employment line and then work six years with no legal problems.
The McCain-Kennedy bill would also strengthen the border and create a computerized system to check the legal status of workers. The Senate bill would authorize spending $400 million to expand a pilot program used by 5,000 employers to cover new hires by more than 8 million U.S. companies within 18 months.
But some experts are skeptical. The non-partisan Migration Policy Institute has said that the pilot system is flawed, will take at least three years to implement, and will fail unless it is made much more accurate. The MPI panel, co-chaired by former congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) and former senator Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) also said other steps are needed, such as producing tamper-proof Social Security or other employment ID card based on fingerprints or other unique identifying features.
Others say thousands of immigration investigators are needed to verify legal workers and track down those who remain in the country illegally.
James W. Ziglar, former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said if Congress does take up an overhaul, "the recognition that enforcement has to be of equal stature is something that will occur this time, because the lessons learned from the 1986 act are still burning very brightly in the minds of people on both sides of the debate."
Mu?oz, a vice president at the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino civil rights group, said Democrats should move carefully ahead with a plan that satisfies both sides.
"This notion that it's dangerous to vote to support comprehensive immigration reform I believe to be false," she said. In Arizona, she said, voters rejected anti-immigration Republicans Randy Graf and Rep. J.D. Hayworth.
But, to show how complicated the issue is, Arizona voters also approved three referenda to make life tougher for illegal immigrants.
Anti-immigration Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who was distraught after the election, believing a guest worker program was inevitable under the Democrats, now says he's changed his mind.
"It seemed to me that it was not going to be as easy for them as I had anticipated or feared," Tancredo said. "They're not putting it out there as their number one, out-of-the-box issue."
The more he thought about the issue, the more cloudy the future seemed.
"I don't know," he said. A temporary guest worker program "could certainly happen. I may be just skipping past the graveyard."
black_logs
04-18 07:48 AM
We are languishing close to 85K. It is very important that we reach 150K very soon. There are some big decisions pending because of that.
Does anyone know how close are we in achieving this target, did we atleast cross 100k?
Does anyone know how close are we in achieving this target, did we atleast cross 100k?
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