Bills, Rules & Politics

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Originally Posted by HarepathekaIntezar

Check this out

https://www.am22tech.com/path-to-cit...-visa-holders/

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I think DT is trying to woo voters or trying to soften the blow of votes against him. Before people get very excited, please remember that democrats control the house. Democrats fully support family based immigration and the congressional black caucus is against removal of DV lottery. Please don't get excited. The immigration problem in the country is like the lack of trust between Palestinians and Israelis (or say Ind-Pak or N.Korea-S.Korea). Fundamentally a lot of things need to change and unless both parties realize that they are both losing they will not come to a deal. I suspect all movements from now till 2020 elections are vote bank politics. Just my opinion.

i echo your comments . Its a like deja vu moment - the cycle repeats itself during re-election season if history is any indication . Lets not put much money on this only to be disappointed at the end

There is no political will to do CIR. Given the fact that democrats control the house and POTUS up for re-election, this is never going to pass. I am trying to be a realist out here. Immigration seems to be like the "Ayodhya" issue in India. Keep raising it to get votes every election and then kick the can down the road. The cycle keeps repeating.

I am also amazed by the various organizations like SIIA / IV who have put in a lot of effort to get the "removal of country quota" bill passed. Unfortunately, its a David vs Goliath battle. I have done my bit but we are the modern day slaves and the Attorney lobby or ITServe alliance will ensure that it never gets passed. <sigh> the times we live in.

Thank you idliman, rohanvus and NJMavarick for your words of wisdom. Your time spent to write this up are very much appreciated to keep all of us firm on the ground. Thank you.

https://news.yahoo.com/border-securi...-politics.html

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Originally Posted by sudiva

Thank you idliman, rohanvus and NJMavarick for your words of wisdom. Your time spent to write this up are very much appreciated to keep all of us firm on the ground. Thank you.

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I forgot to mention another important thing that crossed my mind. The president's proposal does not say a word about DACA. DACA is the elephant in the room and the president/GOP wants to pretend that it is not there because it is a difficult issue. These DACA kids are very knowledgeable and motivated. They will create so much noise that no one can ignore them. They have the masses to do it. I don't blame them, they have every right to fight. Just another point to note that all this hype is just vote bank politics.

I just saw a tweet that at the rules committee meeting today for the Dream Act, Rep. Lofgren mentioned that the Democrats plan to move HR 1044 after the Dream and Promise act is passed. She didn't want to mix up daca and legal dreamers. No definite timeline offered except a promise

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Originally Posted by gs1968

I just saw a tweet that at the rules committee meeting today for the Dream Act, Rep. Lofgren mentioned that the Democrats plan to move HR 1044 after the Dream and Promise act is passed. She didn't want to mix up daca and legal dreamers. No definite timeline offered except a promise

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Isn't it amazing that DACA is preferred over the legal folks! This shows their priorities. Anyways, I think it will be stalled in the Senate. Politics at its best.

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Originally Posted by NJMavarick

Isn't it amazing that DACA is preferred over the legal folks! This shows their priorities. Anyways, I think it will be stalled in the Senate. Politics at its best.

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Actually it won't be introduced at all. Forget about stalling

IV is reporting a breakthrough in negotiations for this Bill. Senator Grassley has added H-1b amendments which were filed today. Hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel

Seems very positive if Grassley supports it? I wonder when it will come up for vote.

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Originally Posted by abcx13

Seems very positive if Grassley supports it? I wonder when it will come up for vote.

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If this is indeed true then it must be sooner rather than later. If the other members of the judiciary committee have no objections then the Senate can discharge the committee of it's responsibility and pass it through the whole chamber. If it reaches this point then it will either be passed by voice vote or unanimous consent. Waiting to vote will complicate matters further

Per CBS News: "Trump says millions in U.S. illegally to be deported starting next week". President DT waves a paper and says he has a secret deal with Mexico. Let the politics play out. To raise his poll numbers, he has to motivate his base. He came to power on a strong anti-immigration agenda and I guess he has and will take it to another extreme. In light of all these things, how can we expect HR 1044 to move realistically?

I did not want to start a thread for this purpose and since this thread clearly deals with legal immigration I felt this would be the best place to post this.
Firstly I think the time has come for HR1044 and similar bills and the ground has clearly shifted in its favor. One would hope that after 11 years of introducing bills with the same language there would be some understanding among Congressmen about the issues and implications favoring passage. I was still hoping that it would be a clean bill without all the H-1B provisions but if that is what it takes then it is what it is. Things will get complicated further if Rep.Lofgren attempts to add her H-1B reform package from 2017

https://lofgren.house.gov/sites/lofg...017__final.pdf

On a different note I saw this table in my news feed and was stunned by the numbers. I am sure the number crunchers in this forum are already aware of its existence but I focus more on legislation and less on procedure

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...le-FY-2018.pdf

The outsourcing firms that were dominant till about 5-6 years ago have slowed it down to a trickle. I remember an article on the NFAP website by Stuart Anderson mentioning this a few years ago but I did not realize the magnitude of the decline. The immediate instinct is to blame President Trump but it appears like the slowdown was already happening prior to his term. For comparison here are some stats from FY 2014

https://www.epi.org/blog/top-10-h-1b...housands-jobs/

Out of curiosity I searched the USCIS database of employers and sequentially the numbers have trended down from that time point (2014) . If this indeed true I fear for the multiple temples,Apna Bazaars and subzimandis that have opened up hoping this stream would flow forever. I am not in the IT field but I was hoping somebody could shed light on what the reasons were. The NFAP piece seems to suggest a change in the business model and the changing technology landscape. Is this just a temporary blip or more of a systemic structural change? If this is true the future immigrant flows will have to be derived from STEM graduates of American Universities

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Originally Posted by gs1968

I did not want to start a thread for this purpose and since this thread clearly deals with legal immigration I felt this would be the best place to post this.
Firstly I think the time has come for HR1044 and similar bills and the ground has clearly shifted in its favor. One would hope that after 11 years of introducing bills with the same language there would be some understanding among Congressmen about the issues and implications favoring passage. I was still hoping that it would be a clean bill without all the H-1B provisions but if that is what it takes then it is what it is. Things will get complicated further if Rep.Lofgren attempts to add her H-1B reform package from 2017

https://lofgren.house.gov/sites/lofg...017__final.pdf

On a different note I saw this table in my news feed and was stunned by the numbers. I am sure the number crunchers in this forum are already aware of its existence but I focus more on legislation and less on procedure

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...le-FY-2018.pdf

The outsourcing firms that were dominant till about 5-6 years ago have slowed it down to a trickle. I remember an article on the NFAP website by Stuart Anderson mentioning this a few years ago but I did not realize the magnitude of the decline. The immediate instinct is to blame President Trump but it appears like the slowdown was already happening prior to his term. For comparison here are some stats from FY 2014

https://www.epi.org/blog/top-10-h-1b...housands-jobs/

Out of curiosity I searched the USCIS database of employers and sequentially the numbers have trended down from that time point (2014) . If this indeed true I fear for the multiple temples,Apna Bazaars and subzimandis that have opened up hoping this stream would flow forever. I am not in the IT field but I was hoping somebody could shed light on what the reasons were. The NFAP piece seems to suggest a change in the business model and the changing technology landscape. Is this just a temporary blip or more of a systemic structural change? If this is true the future immigrant flows will have to be derived from STEM graduates of American Universities

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I think outsourcing growth is slowing down and then probably also more L1s and EB1Cs instead of H1Bs?

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Originally Posted by abcx13

I think outsourcing growth is slowing down and then probably also more L1s and EB1Cs instead of H1Bs?

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I thought that too but then I found this table on the USCIS website and the number of L-1s is less than the H-1B numbers

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...ons_010918.pdf

The significance of this is that once the current backlog is cleared with HR1044 passing hopefully the composition of the inventory might look a lot different.

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Originally Posted by gs1968

I thought that too but then I found this table on the USCIS website and the number of L-1s is less than the H-1B numbers

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...ons_010918.pdf

The significance of this is that once the current backlog is cleared with HR1044 passing hopefully the composition of the inventory might look a lot different.

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Interesting, I did not realize that!

See this also: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/69850507.cms

And this: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/69832748.cms

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Originally Posted by newyorker123

True, but anyway this possibility is years away, with most of our kids not even in teens I presume. Its way better to go abroad for a year and try for EB1C. I was hopeful for many years, now the hope is dead

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HR1044 is our hope. With 309 Cosponsors, The Bill is requested to put on consensus calendar.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-...44/all-actions
This should come for voting shortly.
Also IV - Immigration voice claims that, they have inside information that deal is completed in senate to pass this bill.

Motion to place bill on Consensus Calendar filed by Ms. Lofgren.
Action By: House of Representatives

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Originally Posted by tatikonda

HR1044 is our hope. With 309 Cosponsors, The Bill is requested to put on consensus calendar.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-...44/all-actions
This should come for voting shortly.
Also IV - Immigration voice claims that, they have inside information that deal is completed in senate to pass this bill.

Motion to place bill on Consensus Calendar filed by Ms. Lofgren.
Action By: House of Representatives

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I am cautiously optimistic. Just wondering, what is stopping another Senator from putting a hold on this bill? Does it also have to pass the senate appropriations committee?

House is a done deal if it comes to vote. Kudos to all those who work relentlessly towards the passage of this bill.

@NJMaverick/@tatikonda, I admire your optimism, but I have seen enough over past few years to know that HR1044 will NOT pass

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Originally Posted by newyorker123

@NJMaverick/@tatikonda, I admire your optimism, but I have seen enough over past few years to know that HR1044 will NOT pass

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Given the past history, I totally understand why this bill MAY not pass but with the H1B amendments and Grassley being on board this COULD see the finish line. Time will tell.

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Originally Posted by tatikonda

HR1044 is our hope. With 309 Cosponsors, The Bill is requested to put on consensus calendar.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-...44/all-actions
This should come for voting shortly.
Also IV - Immigration voice claims that, they have inside information that deal is completed in senate to pass this bill.

Motion to place bill on Consensus Calendar filed by Ms. Lofgren.
Action By: House of Representatives

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https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-...house-bill/392

With 329 cosponsors this H.R.392 in previous congress went nowhere. Based on past history, this bill H.R.1044 may meet the same fate.

309 cosponsors doesn't guarantee 309 votes when it comes to vote in the house.

As long as Stephen Miller is around, he will not let any changes to immigration quotas happen unless it involves cutting down numbers.

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Originally Posted by jimmys

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-...house-bill/392

With 329 cosponsors this H.R.392 in previous congress went nowhere. Based on past history, this bill H.R.1044 may meet the same fate.

309 cosponsors doesn't guarantee 309 votes when it comes to vote in the house.

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Hmmm Why not? It would be weird to co-sponsor the bill and not vote against it.

Also, the the main opposition to the bill in Senate in 2011 came from two people - Grassley and Sessions. Grassley has added the amendment so I don't see any issue there and Sessions is no longer there. This is the best progress this bill has had in about 8 years.

Iatiam

This time the house rules are different under Pelosi and there's something called a "Consensus Calendar" so this HAS to come up for discussion and there's plenty of time this time since it's the beginning of the 116th congress. In the past this bill was always brought up towards the end but this time that's not the case.

Some positive points:

Plenty of time for the 116th congress to end.
Grassley on board
Consensus calendar (new rules)
30+ co-sponsors in the Senate as well.

So, I'm optimistic but in politics anything can happen.

lol this bill is like the 'boy who cried wolf' 15 times. i now just ignore the boy.

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Originally Posted by smuggymba

This time the house rules are different under Pelosi and there's something called a "Consensus Calendar" so this HAS to come up for discussion and there's plenty of time this time since it's the beginning of the 116th congress. In the past this bill was always brought up towards the end but this time that's not the case.

Some positive points:

Plenty of time for the 116th congress to end.
Grassley on board
Consensus calendar (new rules)
30+ co-sponsors in the Senate as well.

So, I'm optimistic but in politics anything can happen.

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I would keep an eye on 01OCT19. Then the budget craziness will begin. The chance is from now till OCT for this bill in house. Good Luck!

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Originally Posted by smuggymba

This time the house rules are different under Pelosi and there's something called a "Consensus Calendar" so this HAS to come up for discussion and there's plenty of time this time since it's the beginning of the 116th congress. In the past this bill was always brought up towards the end but this time that's not the case.

Some positive points:

Plenty of time for the 116th congress to end.
Grassley on board
Consensus calendar (new rules)
30+ co-sponsors in the Senate as well.

So, I'm optimistic but in politics anything can happen.

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I am sure some of you know that Rand Paul objected to "unanimous consent" for Fairness bill in Senate. When the bill gets closer to the finish line all the wolves in sheep's clothing will come out and show their true colors. Just keep trying and Just keep fighting.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...l-blocked.html

Agree with Aceman. We are kept in the dark without any information. Enough of analyzing. I don’t belong to Immigration voice or work for them but there are two bills- in Senate S.386 and in the House -H.R. 1044. Call your lawmakers today if you have not done it. I have called my Senator Tim Kaine of my State Virginia. The other Virginian Senator Mark Warner already supports S386 and 9 of my state congressmen support the 1044. This is our last chance and no more wasting time in guessing.

According to this report the Bill is close to passing
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/20...dian-migrants/

It is unclear if the tactic will work but we will see

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Originally Posted by gs1968

According to this report the Bill is close to passing
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/20...dian-migrants/

It is unclear if the tactic will work but we will see

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The latest from Bloomberg law.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-...pite-h-1b-deal

One of the key wording from this article is:
Paul is one of several senators—both Republican and Democratic—with a hold on the bill, making its future uncertain. For Democrats, the chief concern is that the bill would reallocate green cards among immigrants of different nationalities without increasing green cards to accommodate all workers seeking one, according to a Democratic aide.

When it comes to immigration, things are very complicated.

Please read the article above. Rand Paul wants an exception for Philipino Nurses. That's why he's "hold"ing this bill. We don't know what the other senators who are "hold"ing the bill want. If we are addressing and opposing Rand Paul it won't be enough. The fact is that there was not even a hearing on this bill in Senate. For this bill to pass, you need to start hearing support from big wigs like Donald Trump, Mitch, Nancy, etc. The goal posts are constantly moving as far as this bill is considered.

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Originally Posted by idliman

Please read the article above. Rand Paul wants an exception for Philipino Nurses. That's why he's "hold"ing this bill. We don't know what the other senators who are "hold"ing the bill want. If we are addressing and opposing Rand Paul it won't be enough. The fact is that there was not even a hearing on this bill in Senate. For this bill to pass, you need to start hearing support from big wigs like Donald Trump, Mitch, Nancy, etc. The goal posts are constantly moving as far as this bill is considered.

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I was surprised to read this article. Laura Francis is a credible reporter and has focused on H-1B and H4 EAD. Bloomberg is generally factual unlike Breitbart which is scaremongering The only issue is the number of anonymous sources in the article but it is possible that she was not allowed to divulge them in exchange for the information. She has been the subject of significant social media abuse today and I don't see a response from her. The Democratic section that opposes this Bill was already described in an article in April.

https://www.ozy.com/politics-and-pow...agree-on/93741

Seems house bill is scheduled for next week:

https://docs.house.gov/floor/

Many of you are quite accomplished, intelligent and rational people. I am amazed why can't you guys see that the status quo works for literally everybody except backlogged candidates.
1) The Corporations - Status quo gives them cheap high quality reliable labor
2) The State Dept - For some reason the DoS is not quite thrilled to see higher level of immigration from India. Perhaps it's the cold war mindset. So status quo works for them.
3) The Lawyers - Backlog creates opportunities to work with Tech companies ... more lucrative option than other industries. Besides they dont want to go against state dept and dhs.
4) The American Public - They are least interested in seeing any immigration increase ... much less Indians the white collar job thieves!
5) The Politicians - They just go with #1 and #4. Some of them also have #2 on mind.

So my friends --- tell me where is the place for any advocacy?

The only thing that may work is "JUSTICE". US is still the land of justice. Go make your case and fight for it based on discrimination. IV deserves the credit for at least trying really really hard. But my friends ... you have wasted years upon years trying to solve this using Advocacy. A decade has gone by.

Now try something else.

To Canada
It is just the nature of lobbying in the USA. It is a game of continuous cat and mouse. The organizations opposing this legislation also work behind the scenes and keep their cards close to their chest. It is positive that the House Bill has come up for a vote on Wednesday. The strategy has probably been thought out in private but seems to be shifting on a reactive basis. Two weeks ago it was placed on the consensus calendar to be taken up in the fall and suddenly placed on a suspension calendar for this week. It appears like it is the base Bill with no amendments that is being voted on and does not include the Grassley Amendment but other forum members can clarify this.Per House rules no floor amendments can be offered under suspension but the sponsor of the Bill can offer amendments while making the motion to offer the Bill under suspension which I don't think happened in this case. This is not in line with the Bill in the Senate for which the UC was asked for 10 days ago which included the Grassley Amendment and was blocked. This could mean so many things.
1. The House expects quick and decisive movement in the Senate with a one or more additional amendments and returned to the House for concurrence (Best Possible Scenario). However in that case why not wait for the Senate to pass the Bill first and not have the House do it twice? The procedure for unanimous consent and not taking up floor time in the Senate is the same for House and Senate Bills

2. This has been Rep.Lofgren's dream since 2008 and having spent most of the time in the minority since then this would be her first opportunity to move the Bill forward. She has no control over what happens in the Senate and may want to move it out of the House before the summer recess when opposition can mount. The suspension route needs 290 members and if 21 congressmen change their mind this route may no longer be available. Very unlikely and I really feel that the final vote tally will be a lot more favorable

3.The push may also be because of the effective date of the Bill which is October 2019

4. Maybe apply pressure in the Senate on all the people who are holding this up. The senate has made numerous attempts to clean up the Hold process but a lot of these are still being done informally
This from a CRS report a few years ago

"A second challenge to hold regulation involves the nature of the transmission itself. Both recent proposals address a particular kind of communication: a letter written and delivered to a Senator’s party leader that expresses some kind of reservation about the timing or merits of a particular proposal or nomination. Hold requests might be conveyed in less formal ways as well; in a telephone call to the leader’s office, for instance, or in a verbal exchange that occurs on or off the Senate floor. An objection to a unanimous consent request transmitted through the “hotline” represents another common method of communicating preferences to Senate leaders.18Some Senate offices have circulated “Dear Colleague” letters specifying certain requirements legislation must adhere to in order to avoid a hold being placed. It remains unclear, however, whether or not these alternative forms of communication fall within the purview of recent hold reforms"

The Bloomberg report says that there are additional holds and while this may very well be true there is no way of confirming this. There are numerous Bills on Hold but the senate legislative calendar only lists one item. Sometimes only the lead sponsor or the chairman of the affected committee knows who these holds are. See an example below

https://www.rollcall.com/news/congre...n-holds-senate

Interestingly it was mentioned that Sen.Lee was one of the holds of the retirement Bill above according to Politico but could not be confirmed

We will wait and see

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Originally Posted by gs1968

To Canada
It is just the nature of lobbying in the USA. It is a game of continuous cat and mouse. The organizations opposing this legislation also work behind the scenes and keep their cards close to their chest. It is positive that the House Bill has come up for a vote on Wednesday. The strategy has probably been thought out in private but seems to be shifting on a reactive basis. Two weeks ago it was placed on the consensus calendar to be taken up in the fall and suddenly placed on a suspension calendar for this week. It appears like it is the base Bill with no amendments that is being voted on and does not include the Grassley Amendment but other forum members can clarify this.Per House rules no floor amendments can be offered under suspension but the sponsor of the Bill can offer amendments while making the motion to offer the Bill under suspension which I don't think happened in this case. This is not in line with the Bill in the Senate for which the UC was asked for 10 days ago which included the Grassley Amendment and was blocked. This could mean so many things.
1. The House expects quick and decisive movement in the Senate with a one or more additional amendments and returned to the House for concurrence (Best Possible Scenario). However in that case why not wait for the Senate to pass the Bill first and not have the House do it twice? The procedure for unanimous consent and not taking up floor time in the Senate is the same for House and Senate Bills

2. This has been Rep.Lofgren's dream since 2008 and having spent most of the time in the minority since then this would be her first opportunity to move the Bill forward. She has no control over what happens in the Senate and may want to move it out of the House before the summer recess when opposition can mount. The suspension route needs 290 members and if 21 congressmen change their mind this route may no longer be available. Very unlikely and I really feel that the final vote tally will be a lot more favorable

3.The push may also be because of the effective date of the Bill which is October 2019

4. Maybe apply pressure in the Senate on all the people who are holding this up. The senate has made numerous attempts to clean up the Hold process but a lot of these are still being done informally
This from a CRS report a few years ago

"A second challenge to hold regulation involves the nature of the transmission itself. Both recent proposals address a particular kind of communication: a letter written and delivered to a Senator’s party leader that expresses some kind of reservation about the timing or merits of a particular proposal or nomination. Hold requests might be conveyed in less formal ways as well; in a telephone call to the leader’s office, for instance, or in a verbal exchange that occurs on or off the Senate floor. An objection to a unanimous consent request transmitted through the “hotline” represents another common method of communicating preferences to Senate leaders.18Some Senate offices have circulated “Dear Colleague” letters specifying certain requirements legislation must adhere to in order to avoid a hold being placed. It remains unclear, however, whether or not these alternative forms of communication fall within the purview of recent hold reforms"

The Bloomberg report says that there are additional holds and while this may very well be true there is no way of confirming this. There are numerous Bills on Hold but the senate legislative calendar only lists one item. Sometimes only the lead sponsor or the chairman of the affected committee knows who these holds are. See an example below

https://www.rollcall.com/news/congre...n-holds-senate

Interestingly it was mentioned that Sen.Lee was one of the holds of the retirement Bill above according to Politico but could not be confirmed

We will wait and see

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We are the recipients of most number of H1Bs and have highest income by race, country in US but still cannot pay for lobbying or raising awareness to these decades of uncertainty— that is a real shame on us - Indians... we should have spent more money on lobbying rather than negative passing comments against IV. I did send some money to them with the hope it may workout.

A neighbor of mine working in US along with his wife lost jobs- in the same company- both US born kids and wife left to India while the husband is searching for a job... put the house on sale, sold all the furniture... I have job security as I am in medical field but it’s heartbreaking to see such an incident happen... they waited in the queue for 10 years so far with 2012 PD - EB2. Why should this uncertainty continue in your lives?

To Canada
Totally agree. Unfortunately Congress is still grappling with laws created in 1990 and an extreme reluctance to raise annual green card limits. If there was an easier fix it would have happened by now. Average generation length is 33 years and we are almost there by now. In FY 2017 EB categories were 12% of total immigration and was less than the refugee/asylee numbers. In 2017 the total births were 3,855,500 and deaths were 2,813,503 and the natural increase in population was only 1,041,997 and was the lowest increase recorded. Also the births are coming down and deaths are climbing due to the baby boomer generation aging. The birth rate may rebound but it is not far off the all time high of 4.3 million in 2007. Our neighbors to the north have already realized this and accelerated their immigration program.In 2018 the total Canadian births were 385,777 and the deaths were 279,936 with only a natural increase of 105,841 in a country of 33 million.Our lawmaking is not as nimble to do this and we are stuck with quotas from 29 years ago.
To add more context to this- when the original quotas were decided in 1990 the 140000 number was 0.0006% of the population then of 248 million. The 140000 today represents 0.0004% of the population of 330 million. With every passing year the percentage diminishes and Congress could easily double the annual number and all grievances would be taken care of. But every politician who has championed country caps elimination (Chaffetz,Lamar Smith,Lee) have done so strongly insisting that the only reason they support it is because it does not increase annual GCs.
I apologize for all the statistical noise but demography is destiny and our leadership is unfortunately not far-sighted at this point

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Originally Posted by gs1968

To Canada
Totally agree. Unfortunately Congress is still grappling with laws created in 1990 and an extreme reluctance to raise annual green card limits. If there was an easier fix it would have happened by now. Average generation length is 33 years and we are almost there by now. In FY 2017 EB categories were 12% of total immigration and was less than the refugee/asylee numbers. In 2017 the total births were 3,855,500 and deaths were 2,813,503 and the natural increase in population was only 1,041,997 and was the lowest increase recorded. Also the births are coming down and deaths are climbing due to the baby boomer generation aging. The birth rate may rebound but it is not far off the all time high of 4.3 million in 2007. Our neighbors to the north have already realized this and accelerated their immigration program.In 2018 the total Canadian births were 385,777 and the deaths were 279,936 with only a natural increase of 105,841 in a country of 33 million.Our lawmaking is not as nimble to do this and we are stuck with quotas from 29 years ago.
To add more context to this- when the original quotas were decided in 1990 the 140000 number was 0.0006% of the population then of 248 million. The 140000 today represents 0.0004% of the population of 330 million. With every passing year the percentage diminishes and Congress could easily double the annual number and all grievances would be taken care of. But every politician who has championed country caps elimination (Chaffetz,Lamar Smith,Lee) have done so strongly insisting that the only reason they support it is because it does not increase annual GCs.
I apologize for all the statistical noise but demography is destiny and our leadership is unfortunately not far-sighted at this point

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You don’t have to apologize for the figures you mentioned but it actually helped me ( hopefully foe others who are not aware of) understand that it’s the lawmakers in Congress who needs to understand how less these immigration figures compared to the total population. Thanks for writing. I called Rand Paul office today and also called my state senator Tim Kaine’s office requesting for the feedback from him as I have not heard from their office since the last week( I was promised that I would hear from them by the end of th day and they don’t call me I will call back tomorrow)

I worked in England( 2010) didn’t take the permanent residence- my mistake, got Canadian PR( July 2015) didn’t move there hoping my August 2009 dates will be current by now. Visa free Travel, freedom from working full time to a particular employer is what I am looking for.

I don't know why people think its going on floor today. Its planned for tomorrow per the house calendar here:

https://www.majorityleader.gov/conte...ay-july-5-2019