m******k
发帖数: 447 | 1 Is Marco Rubio stalling on immigration reform? The freshman senator says he
wants immigration reform to happen, just not too quickly By Jon Terbush | 5:
46pm EST
inShare
After pushing immigration reform, Sen. Marco Rubio is suddenly raising
concerns about the pending bill. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
A
s a bipartisan group of senators prepares to unveil a wide-ranging
immigration reform bill, a key Republican member of that group may be
putting the brakes on his own legislation.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has been one of the most vocal lawmakers from
either party to push for immigration reform this year. The freshman senator
broke with the majority of his party in January by saying he was open to
bestowing legal status to undocumented immigrants, a crucial sticking point
in the debate.
However, with Congress moving swiftly on the issue, Rubio has repeatedly
cautioned his colleagues to slow down.
Last week, his office issued a statement warning that reports of an imminent
immigration deal were "premature." That was "a deliberate attempt by Rubio
to slow down the momentum toward a deal on immigration," say the Washington
Post's Chris Cillizza and Sean Sullivan, who point out that the statement
dropped the same day that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was scheduled to
discuss the pending legislation on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Rubio has also raised concerns about the potential cost of immigration
reform. And last Friday, he said the pending bill would be a "starting point
, not a take-it-or-leave-it proposition," fueling fears among reform
advocates that a protracted debate would give opponents sufficient time to
rally and defeat the legislation.
So why is Rubio raising these concerns now?
Immigration reform is still deeply unpopular with many conservatives, and
publicly calling for a slower, more deliberative process would give Rubio an
easier sell to the party base once a final compromise is reached.
Here's the Post's Sullivan on that point:
Sure, immigration reform is a political necessity, but caving in to
Democratic demands and embracing new laws conservatives will grouse about is
politically perilous too — especially for someone who might run for
president. In other words, if Rubio is to embrace the final proposal the '
Gang of Eight' comes up with, it can really only be after extended
consideration, and the perception that he regularly pushed back against the
Democrats in the group. [Washington Post]
Others have similarly attributed Rubio's newfound hesitancy to his presumed
presidential ambitions.
"One word, or rather number: 2016," says Bloomberg's Francis Wilkinson. "
Rubio's call to slow down the process on an issue that has been negotiated
on both sides of the Capitol for the better part of a decade aligns him —
momentarily — with the party's all-important conservative base."
There's also been much speculation that Rubio is prepared to ultimately walk
away from the legislation he helped to create. According to Politico, that
prospect, "more than any other dynamic," has been driving the proposal's
fine-tuning.
For now, Rubio is still expected to sign on to the final bill. However,
spurning the legislation could be a political win-win, since it would allow
him to "say that he wanted to make a deal, but the other side was too
unreasonable in its demands," says the American Conservative's Daniel Larson.
As Talking Points Memo's Benjy Sarlin notes, there is some recent historical
precedent for Republicans initially supporting controversial Democratic-
backed bills, only to wind up voting against them. However, he argues that
Rubio's actions are more likely "a wink to conservatives without any actual
substantive concerns behind it." Rubio has already placed himself to the
left of his party on the issue, so there's no real benefit to turning back
now, Sarlin argues.
Conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin made a similar
argument Monday, writing that Rubio's communications director told her that
the senator has only been angling for more leverage in the negotiations, not
attempting to stall the bill into oblivion.
"No one has more to gain than Rubio if immigration reform passes — and
passes with a good share of the GOP support," says Rubin. "And, in turn, the
Republican Party has much to gain by jump-starting legislation that
President Obama did not champion in his first term." | n********r
发帖数: 4558 | 2 要听其言观其行。
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5:
【在 m******k 的大作中提到】
: Is Marco Rubio stalling on immigration reform? The freshman senator says he
: wants immigration reform to happen, just not too quickly By Jon Terbush | 5:
: 46pm EST
:
: inShare
: After pushing immigration reform, Sen. Marco Rubio is suddenly raising
: concerns about the pending bill. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
: A
: s a bipartisan group of senators prepares to unveil a wide-ranging
: immigration reform bill, a key Republican member of that group may be
| m******k
发帖数: 447 | 3 和ICC、CCC（如果有的话）有关的移民改革讨论
Senators to Add High-Tech Visas, Dispute Details
By AP/ERICA WERNERApril 09, 2013Add a Comment
(WASHINGTON) — Senators finalizing a massive immigration bill are arguing
over plans to boost visas for high-tech workers, Senate aides and industry
officials say, with disputes flaring over how best to punish companies that
train workers here only to ship them overseas.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who’s taken the lead in pushing to crack down on
outsourcing firms, also is seeking higher wages for workers brought in on
the H-1B visas that go to specially skilled foreigners, aides and officials
say. High-tech industry officials say his efforts risk punishing companies
not involved in the abuses he’s trying to target, and lawmakers including
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., are taking the other side.
(MORE: The Coming Fight Over The Low-Skilled Worker Visa)
The dispute comes as aides to four Democratic and four Republican senators
have been racing to put the finishing touches on sweeping immigration
legislation that would secure the border and grant eventual citizenship to
11 million people here illegally, while also allowing tens of thousands more
high- and low-skilled workers into the country on new visa programs.
Aides worked into the evening Monday on the high-tech visa issue, and
senators were to resume meeting in person Tuesday after returning to
Washington from a two-week spring recess. They were hoping to complete their
legislation this week, though next week may be looking more likely. The
high-tech visa question loomed as one of a few remaining unsettled matters.
At issue is overwhelming demand from companies like Microsoft, Apple and
Google for the H-1B visas, which are now capped at 65,000 annually, plus 20,
000 more that are reserved for foreign workers who have earned an advanced
degree from a U.S. university. On Friday, the Homeland Security Department
announced that after less than a week of accepting applications, it already
had received more requests than visas available for the 2014 budget year.
Faced with that demand, senators have contemplated lifting the cap to around
100,000, with the ability to go as high as 150,000, aides and officials
said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were ongoing
, and they stressed the numbers remained in flux and no final decisions had
been made.
Such an increase would be a win for the tech industry, which has boosted its
lobbying muscle in Washington in recent years. On a related issue, the
legislation also is likely to allow permanent U.S. residency to unlimited
numbers of people who get advanced degrees in science, technology or math
from U.S. universities.
But the proposal to increase H-1B visas is focusing attention on problems
with the current system.
Daniel Costa, immigration policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a
left-leaning think tank, said the top 10 companies with the most H-1B visas
last year were all firms that bring workers here to work at lower cost than
Americans would, then send them back home. Many are technology companies
based in India.
“There need to be some major reforms before expansion happens,” Costa said.
Senate negotiators have discussed fees and other penalties for companies
that use large numbers of H-1B workers, including requiring those with more
than 30 percent of their workforce made up of H-1B workers to pay higher
wages than others, and those with more than 50 percent of H-1B workers to
pay higher wages still. There would potentially be a prohibition against a
company hiring more than 75 percent of its workers on H-1B visas. No such
limit exists in current law.
But Durbin has been pushing to block companies from hiring any more than 50
percent of their workers on H-1B visas, aides and officials said. More
problematically for U.S. firms, he also is pushing for higher wages, which
industry officials contend could result in H-1B workers getting paid more
than their American counterparts. And he’s sought to push companies to make
greater efforts to hire American workers first.
“Sen. Durbin has advocated for meaningful reforms of the H-1B visa program
for years, and that hasn’t changed in these negotiations,” Durbin
spokesman Max Gleischman said late Monday. “Any discussion of raising H-1B
caps must also include protections for American workers and safeguards to
ensure American jobs aren’t being shipped overseas.”
Scott Corley, executive director of Compete America, which represents high-
tech companies including Google, Intel and Microsoft, said companies that
are not heavily dependent on the H-1B visas shouldn’t be subject to some of
the new restrictions Durbin has advocated.
“If you believe these visas are somehow being exploited, who is more likely
to exploit them?” Corley said. “There are tons and tons of people who
apply for one or two of these visas every year, so you have to step back and
say do we want to do this in a judicious way.”
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/09/senators-to-add-high-tech-visas-dispute-details/#ixzz2Q1uJOafu |
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