As anticipated, Thursday's Senate "amnesty" hearing was heavily stacked with Open Borders enthusiasts. Alan Greenspan, the man who brought you world-wide economic collapse, favors illegals and more H-1B visas.
there is little doubt that unauthorized, that is, illegal, immigration has made a significant contribution to the growth of our economy.
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The quantity of temporary H-1B visas issued each year is far too small to meet the need, especially in the near future
You can take that to the bank and stick it with your 101K.
The Honorable Charles E. Schumer, Chair
I'd like to take the opportunity to recognize the remarkable leadership that my predecessor—Senator Kennedy—has provided to this subcommittee.
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Because of immigration, Google, Yahoo, Intel, and Ebay are American success stories.
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Nationally, 40% of patents in the U.S. are awarded to immigrants.
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
I supported efforts in the last two Congresses to pass practical and effective reforms to our immigration system. Unfortunately, those efforts were defeated by Members who resisted these efforts to achieve realistic solutions.
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it would be inequitable to move toward the legalization of millions of undocumented immigrants without also providing immigration benefits to the thousands of American citizens in same-sex relationships with foreign nationals who now feel abandoned by our laws.
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We cannot continue to deny asylum seekers because they have been forced at the point of a gun to provide assistance to those engaged in terrorist acts. We cannot continue to label as terrorist organizations those who have stood by the United States in armed conflict.
Patrick, you are a strange guy.
Comments from other witnesses:
Doris Meissner
Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program
Migration Policy Institute
labor market immigration makes a contribution to the U.S. economy by permitting an inflow of highand low-skilled workers. At the high-skilled end, foreign-born students, workers and entrepreneurs have been at the heart of American innovation and productivity for decades.
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About a third of America’s 20th century Nobel Prize winners....
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Low-skilled migrants have also played an important role in fueling American productivity.
Police Chief J. Thomas Manger Montgomery County [Maryland}
Chairman, Major Cities Chiefs Association's Legislative Committee
Let me begin by stating unequivocally that our failure to secure our borders has resulted in significant consequences for local governments.
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Until just three weeks ago, when the Maryland General Assembly changed the law, Maryland did not require proof of citizenship before issuing a driver's license. Consequently, undocumented residents came from all over the East Coast, submitted fraudulent information and obtained a Maryland driver's license.
Joel C. Hunter
Senior Pastor of
Northland, A Church Distributed
We will be judged, both by history and by God, by the way we treated people, especially those who needed our help.
Testimony of Jeff Moseley, President and CEO, Greater Houston Partnership
The visa shortage hampers Houston companies that depend on engineers, because significantly more foreign-born students than Americans are completing higher degrees in engineering. According to the American Society of Engineering Education, foreigners account for half of all masters-level engineering students in the United States, and nearly two-thirds of all PhDs. However, as we have witnessed over a period of years during high economic growth, the shortage of H-1B visas prevents a greater number of them from finding long-term employment in the United States.
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"If we lived a hundred years ago, we would have no problem getting servants."
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The answer is not to send these workers home, but to give them recognized legal status
Every engineer I worked with in Houston has moved out. I couldn't find a job there in 7 years. I got tired of training H-1Bs and moved.
Kris W. Kobach
Professor of Law
University of Missouri (Kansas City) School of Law
Assuming that these basic contours of the amnesty remain the same, there are two general reasons why pursuing such a course of action would be ill-advised: (1) the inability of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to implement the amnesty, and (2) the national security risks that would result.
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The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) discovered 398,000 cases of fraud in connection with the 1986 amnesty. No one knows how many cases went undetected.
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The backlog of pending applications for benefits at USCIS is approximately 3 million cases at present.4 On top of that backlog USCIS typically receives 4-6 million applications for benefits each year.5 USCIS is stretched to the breaking point.
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The back-breaking workload results in what the GAO called a "high pressure
production environment." It is widely known that an unofficial "six minute rule" applies—spend no more than six minutes looking at any single application. It is a bureaucratic sweatshop.
WADE HENDERSON, PRESIDENT & CEO,
LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL RIGHTS
I would hope that we can also agree on the importance of giving the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants, living and working in our country, a realistic way to come out of the shadows and legalize their status.
Eliseo Medina
executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union
• Rational control of the border;
• A secure and effective worker authorization mechanism;
• Adjustment of status of the current undocumented population;
• Improvement, not expansion of temporary worker programs; and
• An independent commission to assess and manage future flows, based on labor market shortages that are determined on the basis of actual need
This proposal will allow millions of undocumented workers to come out of the shadows
Meanwhile, we fade into the shadows.