Senate to Address Immigration Next Week, Ready-or-Not

Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) has embraced the concept of immigration forgiveness (amnesty) articulated by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA): when illegal immigrants meet specific criteria (such as returning home first) and pay fines and back taxes, they should have the opportunity to obtain a green card and pursue the road to citizenship. Specter has only one more legislative day to fashion consensus: Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) plans to move debate to the floor the week of 27 March.

Frist is proposing to raise the employment-based visa quota and deal with enforcment, not amnesty. High-tech firms are pushing for H1B quota increases. Last week, Bill Gates told David Broder that "high-skills immigration issue is by far the No. 1 thing" for the computer/electronics sector:

Since autumn 2003, Congress has limited the number of people admitted annually on H1B visas to 65,000. To qualify, a person must have at least a bachelor's degree and specialized knowledge and a job offer from an American employer. The visa is generally good for six years, with the possibility of applying for extensions.

So great is the demand for such skills in the high-tech world that in August 2005, the last of the visas available for fiscal 2006 were issued. That means a 14-month shutdown of the program, until October of this year.

The draft bill that Specter is shepherding through his committee would expand the annual H1B limit from 65,000 to 115,000, a move supported by President Bush. The House appears reluctant to address expansion when many Americans are calling for better border patrol, seeing no difference between illegals crossing the border and foreign high-tech workers coveted by the high-tech industry.

Another sign the current system is broken: a backlog of 3 million visa applications.

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