The immigration reform debate has stirred passions and raises numerous issues which have brought well meaning individuals and groups into conflict. On this page we endeavour to provide diverse viewpoints showing different perspectives and highlighting the challenges that our nation faces with the prospective immigration reforms. These viewpoints are shown to illustrate the complexity of immigration issues and the need for a thoughtful comprehensive approach to Immigration Reform. We do not indorse any political party or opinion and the views expressed below are those of the attributed authors.
The results of the November 2006 Congressional Elections have raised expectations that Immigration Reforms will be enacted by the new Congress when it commences buinsess in early 2007.However. the issues remain divisive and complex and it is far from clear what ultimately will be passed into law and when.For different viewpoints and analysis on the impact of the elections see the following articles:
WASHINGTON - More than two-thirds of Americans support enabling illegal immigrants to become citizens even as nearly the same percentage favor a crackdown on businesses that employ such immigrants, according to a national poll released Tuesday.Read Full Story:
New study shows that the impact of immgration on the economy is to boost tax income while at the same time draining some local county resources.For Full Story read:href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/120806dnteximmigration.32b7435.html/">
After November 7, 2006: The Mid-Term Elections And Immigration
The November mid-term election was a repudiation of the Republican majority and a strong protest against the status quo -- whatever the status quo voters were registering their opposition to: the war in Iraq, Congressional corruption, the economy, or terrorism. And this mid-term election was largely focused on national, not local, issues. Read More: www.ilrc.org/publications.php
Still no slam dunk on an immigration bill
Tensions are surfacing as Democratic leaders must deal with newly elected conservatives inside their own party.
By Nicole Gaouette, Times Staff Writer
November 23, 2006
WASHINGTON — For Democrats pondering the challenges of overhauling immigration policy during next year's Congress, incoming members like Claire McCaskill provide an early warning. Read More:
Illegal immigration's give-and-take
Study: Their taxes lift state, but services drain counties
Read full story http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/120806dnteximmigration.32b7435.html
Skilled Workers are being ignored in the Immigration Debate
Visas for Skilled Workers Still Frozen
By S. Mitra Kalita
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 28, 2006; Page A12
For technology companies and research institutions that have spent recent autumns lobbying for permission to hire more foreign workers, this was supposed to be the year that ended the annual rite of desperation. Read More---
H-1 B Reform is Now Urgent!
The issue of H-1B reform has been overshadowed by the news and debate over illegal immigratio.However, the shortage of visas for skilled workers and professionals is at a crisis stage.The annual allocation of H-1B specialty occupation visas for the year commencing October 1, 2006 was used up within weeks and there are no available visas until October 1, 2007.The earliest date for filing for an H-1b visa for 2007 is April 1, 2007.Here are some different viewpoints on the way to reform the H1-B visa crisis:
To Reopen American Factories and Save Jobs: First Raise the H1B Quota
Whether or not Congress passes an immigration bill this year, one provision in the senate bill which has received scant media attention contains a raise in the H1B quota for the coming year and a change in how the quota would be utilized. This facet of the bill is crucial to the nation’s economy and public discussion is absolutely necessary. Bill Gates, not known for lobbying in Washington, made a special trip this past month to discuss it. The issue is so important that it would be wise to consider passing it as a separate item and not lumping in with the political hot potato that is immigration. In order to do that, we must first understand what it is and stop looking at it as an immigration issue but rather as a competitive business issue viz. America and the rest of the world. Read the rest of this article
Give Me Your Diligent, Your Smart
"All anyone wants to talk about in Washington is illegal aliens. But lost in the debate is the equally vital issue of how to attract the people America really needs: high-skilled immigrants." Business Week, May 1, 2006
The Path Less Traveled: Why More H-1B Numbers By Themselves Are Not The Answer by It did not take long for the next H-1B emergency campaign to start. Within hours of the USCIS announcement on July 28, 2006 that all 20,000 cap-exempt H-1B numbers for advanced degree holders from American universities had been exhausted two days earlier, business and the immigration bar launched their most recent appeal for more numbers.Read full article by Gary Endelman
(Copyrighted by, and reproduced with permission from ILW.COM, )
Immigration Enforcement
New Poll: Americans Prefer House Approach on Immigration
Mark Krikorian for the Center for Immigration Studies writes "A new Zogby poll of likely voters, using neutral language (see wording on following pages), finds that Americans prefer the House of Representatives' enforcement-only bill by 2-1 over Senate proposals to legalize illegal immigrants and greatly increase legal immigration." Read more...
Ways to verify eligibility seen as key to immigration control
"Central to all the immigration overhaul proposals under debate in Washington is the creation of a vast electronic system for screening all potential employees in the United States to weed out workers who can not legally be hired." San Francisco Chronicle, May 23, 2006. Analsysis of the the Compromise Immigration Reform Bill –what this will mean for some immigrants
Center for Human Rights and Constititutional Law April 2006
Families and Legal residents Affected by Immigration Bills "While most of the recent public debate on immigration has focused on legalization for undocumented immigrants and guest-worker programs, the major bills under consideration in Congress contain punitive measures for legal immigrants, including refugees, which would make it harder for anyone who commits even a minor crime to remain in the United States with elderly parents, spouses and U.S. citizen children." New America Media, May 13, 2006
