H1B Bills Stalled in Congress
Posted Jul 25, 2000

Some important immigration law bills have been stalled in the U.S. Congress. We urge our company clients and those in management positions to consider getting involved in advocating for the passage of such legislation, which will enable their companies to obtain and retain much-needed, high-tech or other professional workers, and which will help families to stay together.

Many prior MurthyBulletin articles have reported on the vitally important H1B legislation: S. 2045 in the Senate (Abraham bill), and H.R. 3983 in the House of Representatives (Dreier-Lofgren bill). Both bills would raise the H1B cap, and also include helpful provisions for persons pursuing Green Cards, such as: (a) extensions of H-1 beyond 6 years if the labor certification or the Green Card petition is pending; and (b) relief from per-country quotas. These issues are of special concern to persons from China and India.

Readers should urge their employers and U.S. citizen friends to write to their Senators and Representatives to urge passage of the above legislation. It is also important for the foreign nationals themselves, who are directly affected by these issues, to write to Congress as well. We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. have been inspired by the actions of some informal immigrant organizations, made up of individuals such as H1B workers, who have taken the initiative to write to and visit with Members of Congress to share their personal stories.

There are only a few weeks left in the Congressional session, so act now! Other issues of importance, besides the H1B bills, include: restoration of section 245(i) (penalty fee provision for out-of-status persons to file the final stage of their Green Card process from within the U.S.), updating the registry date, and reforming some of the harsh provisions of the 1996 immigration laws. Articles on all these topics have appeared in past issues of the MurthyBulletin.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has provided sample letters that can be used to express support for action on all the above issues. We reproduce them below to be widely used as samples by companies or organizations and individuals.

Sample Letter to Representative :

The Honorable (full name)
__(Rm.#)__(name of) House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

I am writing to urge you to support efforts that would help ensure our nation’s continued economic growth and correct past government mistakes and misdeeds. I urge you to support the following efforts:

• Allow companies to use temporary foreign professional workers. The current H1B cap is a cap on America’s economic growth. Chairperson Greenspan and other independent economists support raising the cap. I urge you to support HR 3983.

• Correct the injustice of the 1980s. Although, nearly 15 years ago, Congress enacted a legalization program, the INS erroneously refused to allow some qualified immigrants to adjust their status under that program. Furthermore, in 1996, Congress stripped federal courts of the ability to hear those immigrants’ cases. H.R. 4172 would solve the problems created by these circumstances. I urge you to support H.R. 4172.

• Treat immigrants of similar circumstances similarly. Refugees from certain Central American and Caribbean countries now are eligible to become permanent residents. However, current law helped some, but not others, in similar circumstances. Congress needs to act again and pass the Central American and Haitian Adjustment Act to ensure that refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti have the same opportunity. I urge you to support H.R. 2772.

• Allow for eligible people to adjust their status in the U.S., instead of having to travel abroad and be subject to certain restrictions. A provision of immigration law, Section 245(i), allowed people living here to pay a $1,000 fee and adjust their status. Allowing such adjustments with the $1,000 fee provides millions of dollars in additional funding (about $200 million in a recent fiscal year) to help reduce INS backlogs, at no cost to taxpayers. Since the sunset of Section 245(i) in 1998, INS backlogs have skyrocketed, families have been separated, businesses have lost valuable employees, and eligible people must leave the country (often for years) in order to adjust. Please support restoring Section 245(i) in the CSJ appropriations bills, and support H.R. 1841.

These bills would “keep America working,” ensure our continued economic growth, and correct past government mistakes. I urge your strong support for these measures.

Sincerely,


Sample letter to Senator :

 The Honorable (full name)
__(Rm.#)__(name of) Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

I am writing to urge you to support efforts that would help ensure our nation’s continued economic growth and correct past government mistakes and misdeeds. I urge you to support the following efforts.

• Allow companies to use temporary foreign professional workers. The current H1B cap is a cap on America’s economic growth. Chairperson Greenspan and other independent economists support raising the cap. I urge you to support S. 2045.

• Correct the injustice of the 1980s. Although, nearly 15 years ago, Congress enacted a legalization program, the INS erroneously refused to allow some qualified immigrants to adjust their status under that program. Furthermore, in 1996, Congress stripped federal courts of the ability to hear those immigrants’ cases. S. 2407 would solve the problems created by these circumstances. I urge you to support S. 2407.

• Treat immigrants of similar circumstances similarly. Refugees from certain Central American and Caribbean countries now are eligible to become permanent residents. However, current law helped some, but not others, in similar circumstances. Congress needs to act again and pass the Central American and Haitian Adjustment Act to ensure that refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti have the same opportunity. I urge you to support S. 1592.

• Allow for eligible people to adjust their status in the U.S., instead having to travel abroad and be subject to certain restrictions. A provision of immigration law, Section 245(i), allowed people living here to pay a $1,000 fee and adjust their status. Allowing such adjustments with the $1,000 fee provides millions of dollars in additional funding (about $200 million in a recent fiscal year) to help reduce INS backlogs, at no cost to taxpayers. Since the sunset of Section 245(i) in 1998, INS backlogs have skyrocketed, families have been separated, businesses have lost valuable employees, and eligible people must leave the country (often for years) in order to adjust. Please support restoring Section 245(i) in the CSJ appropriations bill.

These bills would “keep America working,” ensure our continued economic growth, and correct past government mistakes. I urge your strong support on these measures.

Sincerely,