Congress Takes a Wrong Turn on Way to Stimulus

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) believes Congress took a advancing footfall backwards today - to an era of application protectionism.

Washington, DC (Vocus/PRWEB ) February 6, 2009 -- The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) believes Congress took a advancing footfall backwards today - to an era of application protectionism. Adopting by articulation vote an alteration by Senators Sanders (I-VT) and Grassley (R-IA) - who like to anatomy issues through an "us against them" lens - the Senate caved to an old reactionary instinct: if times get tough, about-face inward, put on the blinders, and crouch down. Unfortunately, we apperceive empirically that this aptitude is acutely counterproductive to bread-and-butter advance and creates a altitude of angry divisiveness.

The Sanders-Grassley alteration that was originally filed fabricated no pretense about the objective: it barred TARP armamentarium recipients from hiring adopted workers beneath the H-1B affairs for one year. In part, we suspect, because of the animal eyes surrounding such a aboveboard protectionist message, the alteration was after dressed up with some qualifiers and acknowledged niceties. But the net aftereffect of the alteration that ultimately anesthetized is the same: the banking institutions who accept allotment beneath the affairs will be harder apprenticed to appoint any adopted nationals (or extend the visas of currently active adopted workers) for a 2-year period.

A March 2008 National Foundation for American Policy address (NFAP report) has apparent that for every H-1B position requested by an S&P 500 U.S. technology company, all-embracing application at the aggregation added by 5 workers. The address aswell begin that a allotment of companies in the abstraction sample experiencing layoffs, for every H-1B position requested, absolute application was estimated to be two workers added than it contrarily would accept been.

Instead of seeing the accepted bread-and-butter calamity as a all-around botheration and immigrants as allotment of the aggregate solution, the Senate absurdly chose to bind the banking industry's acceptance to top-flight all-around aptitude who can advice actualize jobs for U.S. workers. In these difficult bread-and-butter times, we cannot acquiesce knee-jerk, abhorrence apprenticed behavior that will balk growth. Our nation's accommodation to carry the world's assorted aptitude basin into a awful advantageous bread-and-butter engine is a axial acumen that we are the wealthiest nation in history.

AILA calls on Congress to accept advanced behavior that embrace our cachet as the capital landing atom for the world's best and brightest. It is time to about-face our aback on short-sighted, alone policies, not on the world's accomplished achievers who can advice lift us from our bread-and-butter malaise.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the civic affiliation of clearing attorneys accustomed to advance justice, advocate for fair and reasonable clearing law and policy, advanced the above of clearing and allegiance law and practice, and enhance the able development of its members.

Contact
George Tzamaras
202-507-7649
gtzamaras @ aila.org