GOP faces intense pressure from the corporate world.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Despite the fact that the passage of immigration reform in 2014 looks increasingly unlikely with each passing day, House Speaker John Boehner has reiterated that he wants to get the legislation passed as soon as possible.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Boehner told a group of key supporters and donors that he is “hellbent on getting [immigration reform] done this year.” The comment happened at an event that took place in Las Vegas last month, with Boehner further specifying that he envisions getting the legislation passed this coming summer. A Boehner aide later confirmed to WSJ that Boehner did, indeed, make those comments, but clarified that nothing would move forward until Republicans felt they had a trustworthy partner in President Barack Obama.
Boehner isn’t the only Republican who’s making moves with regards to immigration reform. California Rep. Jeff Denham is working on a bill that would allow illegal aliens to become citizens if they serve in the US military, and Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart – who has been on the front lines of the immigration movement for several months – is reportedly working on legislation to allow undocumented workers to apply for legalization through existing channels. Boehner apparently wants this bill ready for a vote no later than July.
Boehner’s comment is the latest overture from the GOP, which suddenly flip-flopped from opposing immigration reform vehemently to welcoming the legislation, albeit with a handful of significant caveats, in a matter of months. The GOP stonewalled the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill in the House of Representatives last summer after it flew through passage in the Senate, and continued to hamstring the bill’s movement because, mainly, they opposed the Democrats’ view of allowing undocumented workers a path to citizenship.
Earlier this year, however, a GOP retreat in Maryland ended with many high-level party leaders saying they were open to passing the legislation if certain changes were made, such as the path to citizenship and other such tenets. The doors seemed to be open for immigration reform being passed, but movement subsequently stalled, and looked unlikely to move forward as Washington turned its attention to the 2014 midterm races.
That’s all to say that despite Boehner’s words, there is a huge gulf between talk and action from the GOP side. And so far, the focus of nearly everything with the immigration bill has been on undocumented immigrants, not those who come legally via H-1B visas and other such documentation. No initiatives have been proposed to amend those parts of the Gang of Eight bill, meaning that companies who hire large amounts of foreign workers will have to pay thousands of dollars in fees for visa petitions if the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill passes.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com
16 Comments
If you’re an American who doesn’t have to worry about all those obstacles, and you were born with advantages that come with U.S. citizenship, and you still find yourself losing out to undocumented workers, YOU SHOULDN’T BE COMPLAINING You should be EMBARRASSED.
WHO & WHY ARE YOU AFRAID OF THESE POOR DISH WASHING, FOOD PICKERS ? ARE YOU SO UNEDUCATED THAT YOU ARE AFRAID TO LOSE YOUR CAR WASHING LAWN MOWING JOB??
To those who complain that the Undocumented Immigrants are taking away their jobs.
Very Simple solution, Buy the book, SECRETS OF THE MILLIONAIRE MIND You can get this in Amazon. and YOU WILL SEE WHY YOU ARE NOT A MILLIONAIRE.
Like this you will build your own Fortune regardless of the poor food pickers who cross our borders to enrich their life’s.
FIRST LEARN TO ENRICH YOUR OWN LIFE BEFORE YOU SIT AND BLAME OTHERS FOR YOUR OWN FAILURES>
LEARN TO BE RICH IN YOUR MIND, BODY, SOUL AND FINANCES.
GOD BLESS & GOOD LUCK :)
GET A LIFE STOP SHOWING YOUR IGNORANCE & HATE TOWARDS ALMIGHTY GODS CHILDREN, BETTER YET GO VOLUNTEER TO A VETERANS / CHILDREN’S / CANCER HOSPITAL OR A SENIOR HOME YOU WILL BE DOING GOOD FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR NATION.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2014/04/15/87996/top-5-reasons-why-immigration-reform-means-more-tax-revenues/
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director U.S. Congress Washington, DC 20515
March 25, 2014 Honorable Nancy Pelosi Minority Leader U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Madam Leader: As you requested, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has reviewed H.R. 15, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, as introduced on October 2, 2013. H.R. 15 would revise laws governing immigration and the enforcement of those laws, allowing for a significant increase in the number of noncitizens who could lawfully enter the United States on both a permanent and temporary basis. Additionally, the bill would create a process for many individuals who are present in the country now on an unauthorized basis to gain legal status, subject to requirements specified in the bill. The bill also would directly appropriate funds for tightening border security and enforcing immigration laws, and would authorize additional appropriations for those purposes. CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have not completed a full, comprehensive cost estimate for H.R. 15. However, the bill is quite similar to the version of S. 744 that was reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 2013 (and later amended and passed by the Senate). Based on that similarity, we expect that enacting H.R. 15 would have effects on the population and the federal budget that would be quite similar to those of the committee-reported version of S. 744. Specifically, we expect that enacting H.R. 15 would increase direct spending and revenues by about the same amounts as S. 744, for a net reduction in federal budget deficits of about $200 billion over the 2015-2024 period and significantly greater amounts in the decade following 2024.
1
In addition to the cost estimate for S. 744, CBO prepared an analysis of the overall economic impact of that bill and of the incremental federal budgetary effects of those changes in the economy that were outside the
1. For more information, see CBO’s cost estimate for S. 744 as reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary (June 18, 2013) at http://www.cbo.gov/publication/44225 and CBO’s cost estimate for S. 744 as passed by the Senate (July 3, 2013) at http://www.cbo.gov/publication/44397.
Honorable Nancy Pelosi Page 2 scope of the cost estimate for the bill. CBO has not prepared such an analysis for H.R. 15. However, based on the similarity of the legislation to the version of S. 744 that was reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, we expect that enacting H.R. 15 would have effects on output and income that would be quite similar to those of the committee-reported version of S. 744. Among other effects, the legislation would probably boost economic output, increase average wages for the entire labor force after about a decade (but decrease them before that), raise the amount of capital investment, and increase the productivity of labor and capital. On balance, we expect that the economic effects of H.R. 15 that would not be included in the cost estimate would have no significant net effect on federal budget deficits during the coming decade and would reduce deficits by a significant additional amount during the following decade.
2
Comparison of the Provisions of H.R. 15 with Those of S. 744
In 2013, CBO transmitted two cost estimates for S. 744 (which was also entitled the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act)—for a committee-approved version and a Senate- passed version of the legislation. The budgetary effects of H.R. 15 would be quite similar to those of the committee-approved version of S. 744. The first estimate for S. 744 was transmitted on June 18, 2013, and was for the version of the bill that was reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on May 28, 2013, including the amendments made in the star print of June 6, 2013. In that cost estimate, CBO estimated that, under the bill, the population of the United States would increase by 10.4 million people, on net, by 2023 (10 years after assumed enactment) and that roughly 8 million unauthorized residents would initially gain legal status (because those people would already be in the United States, that change in status would not increase the U.S. population). CBO and JCT estimated that enacting the legislation would generate changes in direct spending and revenues that would decrease federal budget deficits by $197 billion over the 2014–2023 period. The Senate amended S. 744 before passing it on June 27, 2013. CBO transmitted a letter summarizing its analysis of that version of S. 744 on July 3, 2013. For that Senate-passed version of the legislation, CBO estimated that the net population increase over the first 10 years after
2. For more information, see Congressional Budget Office,
The Economic Impact of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
(June 2013), http://www.cbo.gov/publication/44346.
Honorable Nancy Pelosi Page 3 enactment would be 9.6 million people—800,000 fewer than estimated for the committee-approved version of S. 744. That reduction stemmed from an amendment that would directly appropriate an additional $38 billion for the security of the southern U.S. border (relative to such funding in the committee-approved version). As a result of that appropriation and the consequent budgetary effects of having fewer unauthorized residents in the country (as well as the effects of other amendments), CBO and JCT estimated that changes in direct spending and revenues under the Senate- passed version of S. 744 would decrease federal budget deficits by $158 billion over the 2014-2023 period. H.R. 15 does not differ from the committee-reported version of S. 744 in any significant way; it differs from the Senate-passed version H.R. 15 of S. 744 mostly because H.R. 15 does not include the additional $38 billion in funding for border security that was in that version of the Senate bill (although it includes some such funding).
Differences in Timeline and in CBO’s Baseline Projections
Although H.R. 15 and the committee-reported version of S. 744 are very similar, if CBO and JCT were to prepare a full, comprehensive cost estimate for H.R. 15 now, the estimated effects on population and the federal budget would differ modestly from the effects for S. 744 that were estimated last year—primarily because the assumed enactment date would be different and because CBO has updated its baseline projections. However, the differences arising from those factors and others would be small relative to the size and scope of the budgetary effects of the legislation. Thus, the budgetary effects of H.R. 15 would be quite similar to those of the committee-approved version of S. 744. Last year’s cost estimate for S. 744 incorporated an assumption that the legislation would be enacted by the beginning of fiscal year 2014 and focused on the 10-year period from 2014 through 2023. For legislation that might be considered during the remainder of the current Congress, we would assume enactment near the start of fiscal year 2015 and focus on the 10-year period from 2015 through 2024. That shift in the timeline would have only a small impact on the estimated effects of the legislation on federal budget deficits through changes in direct spending and revenues. In addition, the shift would reduce estimated discretionary spending under the bill’s specified authorizations, but only by about $1 billion. That reduction would occur because those authorizations generally applied to the 2014-2018 period, which was the five-year period following the assumed
Honorable Nancy Pelosi Page 4 enactment of S. 744, and authorizations for 2014 would not lead to spending if the bill was enacted near the start of fiscal year 2015. The updates to CBO’s baseline projections (which incorporate the assumption that current laws will generally be unchanged) reflect updated forecasts for inflation, average benefits to be provided through various federal programs, and other factors. Those updates would have only a small impact on the estimated effects of the legislation on direct spending and revenues because most of the revisions to the baseline projections were fairly small.
Budgetary Effects in the Second Decade Following Enactment
CBO expects that H.R. 15—like S. 744—would lead to a significant reduction in federal budget deficits during the second decade after enactment (as well as during the first decade after enactment). CBO estimated that the committee-reported version of S. 744 would generate changes in direct spending and revenues that would reduce deficits by about $700 billion over that second decade. In light of the considerations discussed above, CBO expects that the budgetary effects of H.R. 15 during that second decade would be quite similar. I hope you find this information useful. If you have any questions, the primary CBO staff contact is Sam Papenfuss. Sincerely, Douglas W. Elmendorf Director cc: Honorable John Boehner Speaker Honorable Joe Garcia
Poor GOP / Republicans & Tea Partiers have an Illness that is worse than cancer its called OBAMISITIS :-).
EDUCATE YOURSELF. GET THE TRUE FACTS NOT POLITICAL SPIN & LIES.
GOP=GRUMPY OLD PEOPLE
GOP=GRUMPY OLD PUTZSE’S
GOP= GRAND OBSTRUCTION PARTY. :):)
By 2016 another 5 to 10.000.000 republican senior voters will pass away. And by 2020 another 10 to 20.000.000 million will pass away , so will the GOP= GRUMPY OLD PEOPLE .
There are 50,000 Latinos coming of age to vote every month= over 3.000.000 THREE MILLION NEW VOTERS for 2016 AND ANOTHER 5.000.000 VOTERS IN 2020.THEY ALL ARE CERTAINLY GOING TO VOTE REPUBLICANS :) HA HA HA THANKS FOR THE LAUGH :):):)
The REPUBLICANS ARE A DO NOTHING PARTY. HERE ARE THE FACTS ON IMMIGRATION REFORM.
For all the tough talk about immigration reform, the House has done NOTHING on border security and the Senate has.
Likewise, they’ve done NOTHING to solve the visa overstay issue, workplace verification or the H-1B visa problem. It is well and good to vaguely declare the Gang of Eight bill insufficient, but certainly it does more for border security and these other issues than House Republicans have managed to do (which is NOTHING).
The argument that the House can do NOTHING runs headlong into anti-immigration forces hype about the out-of-control border and the supposed economic burdens of illegal immigration. If it’s such a horrible problem — immigrants pouring over the border and all — why is the REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED HOUSE JUST SITTING THERE?????
Another Year of OPEN BORDERS
Another Year of BORDER CROSSINGS,
Another Year of WORK SITE VERIFICATIONS,
Another Year of VISA OVER STAYS,
Thanks Republicans the Undocumented are Happy that you’ll ar doing NOTHING :) Just PANDERING TO YOUR BASE.
In poll after poll, roughly three-quarters of Americans say they support a path to citizenship along the lines laid out in the Senate bill, which calls for a minimum wait of 13 years for most illegal immigrants. In a Gallup poll last month, for example, 87 percent said they would vote in favor of a bill that “would allow illegal immigrants living in the U.S. the opportunity to become citizens after a long waiting period if they paid taxes and a penalty, pass a criminal background check, and learn English.”
Twelve percent said they would oppose such a measure. That is the 12 percent to whom House Republicans are listening. And 12 percent is a long, long way from 51 percent.
By rejecting immigration, the Republicans in the House are sending a message that they’re not interested in being part of the solution. “If you only have to worry about your right flank — you don’t have to worry about a general election, don’t have to worry about governing — that’s a pretty easy gig, isn’t it? What the hell is the point?”
Paul Ryan The Budget Committee chairman, whose next job may be head of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, makes his case based on numbers.
‘‘Baby boomers are retiring to the tune of 10,000 people a day for the next 10 years,’’ Ryan said. ‘‘We’re going to have labor shortages in this country in the next decade. We need to have our immigration system prepared for that. It’s going to take time to do that and that’s why I think we need to do it now.’’
If immigration reform crashes, there will be one and only one reason: a failure of leadership by House Republicans.
The votes to enact meaningful reform already exist. The only question is whether House Republicans will allow them to be cast.
Poor GOP / Republicans & Tea Partiers have an Illness that is worse than cancer its called OBAMISITIS :-).
EDUCATE YOURSELF. GET THE TRUE FACTS NOT POLITICAL SPIN & LIES.
GOP=GRUMPY OLD PEOPLE
GOP=GRUMPY OLD PUTZSE’S
GOP= GRAND OBSTRUCTION PARTY. :):)
By 2016 another 5 to 10.000.000 republican senior voters will pass away. And by 2020 another 10 to 20.000.000 million will pass away , so will the GOP= GRUMPY OLD PEOPLE .
There are 50,000 Latinos coming of age to vote every month= over 3.000.000 THREE MILLION NEW VOTERS for 2016 AND ANOTHER 5.000.000 VOTERS IN 2020.THEY ALL ARE CERTAINLY GOING TO VOTE REPUBLICANS :) HA HA HA THANKS FOR THE LAUGH :):):)
The REPUBLICANS ARE A DO NOTHING PARTY. HERE ARE THE FACTS ON IMMIGRATION REFORM.
For all the tough talk about immigration reform, the House has done NOTHING on border security and the Senate has.
Likewise, they’ve done NOTHING to solve the visa overstay issue, workplace verification or the H-1B visa problem. It is well and good to vaguely declare the Gang of Eight bill insufficient, but certainly it does more for border security and these other issues than House Republicans have managed to do (which is NOTHING).
The argument that the House can do NOTHING runs headlong into anti-immigration forces hype about the out-of-control border and the supposed economic burdens of illegal immigration. If it’s such a horrible problem — immigrants pouring over the border and all — why is the REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED HOUSE JUST SITTING THERE?????
Another Year of OPEN BORDERS
Another Year of BORDER CROSSINGS,
Another Year of WORK SITE VERIFICATIONS,
Another Year of VISA OVER STAYS,
Thanks Republicans the Undocumented are Happy that you’ll ar doing NOTHING :) Just PANDERING TO YOUR BASE.
In poll after poll, roughly three-quarters of Americans say they support a path to citizenship along the lines laid out in the Senate bill, which calls for a minimum wait of 13 years for most illegal immigrants. In a Gallup poll last month, for example, 87 percent said they would vote in favor of a bill that “would allow illegal immigrants living in the U.S. the opportunity to become citizens after a long waiting period if they paid taxes and a penalty, pass a criminal background check, and learn English.”
Twelve percent said they would oppose such a measure. That is the 12 percent to whom House Republicans are listening. And 12 percent is a long, long way from 51 percent.
By rejecting immigration, the Republicans in the House are sending a message that they’re not interested in being part of the solution. “If you only have to worry about your right flank — you don’t have to worry about a general election, don’t have to worry about governing — that’s a pretty easy gig, isn’t it? What the hell is the point?”
Paul Ryan The Budget Committee chairman, whose next job may be head of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, makes his case based on numbers.
‘‘Baby boomers are retiring to the tune of 10,000 people a day for the next 10 years,’’ Ryan said. ‘‘We’re going to have labor shortages in this country in the next decade. We need to have our immigration system prepared for that. It’s going to take time to do that and that’s why I think we need to do it now.’’
If immigration reform crashes, there will be one and only one reason: a failure of leadership by House Republicans.
The votes to enact meaningful reform already exist. The only question is whether House Republicans will allow them to be cast.
where is da comment
Deepak you should be happy that , in the hubub of Illegal immigrants, fraud of legal immigration in the garb of so called h1b and l1b and b1 in lieu of h1 (which is a gross abuse of immigration system) is being ignored. S. 744 actually failed in addressing the h1,l1 fraud. House should raise the bar of h1 visas to 90 percent requirement and fees to 25,000 USD. F1 masters adn Phds are enough to fill any high tech requirements. These visas should be totally abolished in the first place. I am from India and if given a chance at a consulate i will reject 99.9 percent of these visas on valid grounds. .net, java, tester don’t need ms in electical engg. etc. Most engg grads in india are only on paper degrees as most colleges including IITs don’t have proper faculties. So stop whining about lack of visas for highly skilled. You know what, if like australia they make 8.0 /9.0 on IELTS a requirement and weed out all IELTS scams ,not even 35000 of the 85000 h1b will be filed every single year. IN fact, if there is a congressional hearing into the software outsourcing and h1 l1 fraud where US firms are hand in glove in cheating millions of investors of US , billions of dollars every year, most of the IT CEOs would end up in a jail which we can name as rajat gupta jail and fill it with all Indian CEOs. SO much for your h1 high skill fraud. Pack your bags adn leave before you end up in jail once s. 744 is passed.
Deepak you should be happy that , in the hubub of Illegal immigrants, fraud of legal immigration in the garb of so called h1b and l1b and b1 in lieu of h1 (which is a gross abuse of immigration system) is being ignored. S. 744 actually failed in addressing the h1,l1 fraud. House should raise the bar of h1 visas to 90 percent requirement and fees to 25,000 USD. F1 masters adn Phds are enough to fill any high tech requirements. These visas should be totally abolished in the first place. I am from India and if given a chance at a consulate i will reject 99.9 percent of these visas on valid grounds. .net, java, tester don’t need ms in electical engg. etc. Most engg grads in india are only on paper degrees as most colleges including IITs don’t have proper faculties. So stop whining about lack of visas for highly skilled. You know what, if like australia they make 8.0 /9.0 on IELTS a requirement and weed out all IELTS scams ,not even 35000 of the 85000 h1b will be filed every single year. IN fact, if there is a congressional hearing into the software outsourcing and h1 l1 fraud where US firms are hand in glove in cheating millions of investors of US , billions of dollars every year, most of the IT CEOs would end up in a jail which we can name as rajat gupta jail and fill it with all Indian CEOs. SO much for your h1 high skill fraud. Pack your bags adn leave before you end up in jail once s. 744 is passed.
“Jeff Denham is working on a bill that would allow illegal aliens to become citizens if they serve in the US military”
Oh. So THAT’S really why they want so many immigrants – they want them to die for US corporations in some foreign war!
They will probably not get too much accomplished this year. They’re all busy campaigning. A big waste of our money, especially since the republicans took control. Nothing gets done but they spend millions in doing so.
“Nothing gets done but they spend millions in doing so.”
A Repub speciality!
We need rid of the Hispanic parasites costing us $Billions annually. Get the military involved if necessary to round them up for deportation by the trainload.
The Hispanics? What are you talking about? Do you understand the term Hispanic? Do you even know how many illegal aliens were deported last year? Hundreds of thousands have been deported, year after year in the past 4 or 5 years. (None of them by train, since there is no international train, and certainly no train to Hispaniola.) Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — made up 93 percent of all people deported last year. None of these people were Hispanic.
Not really.
Only 31,000 invaders from the interior are being deported.
The other 350,000 being counted as deported are the ones
caught at the border trying to enter.
Obongo has cooked the books.
No, that’s not true. You refuse to look at the facts and see the truth. Besides, I’m guessing you’re a racist and you’re probably so filled with resentment and hatred that you can’t even process information properly anymore. This is why you are being ignored.
start up The proccess if you think it is easy .And make sure you bring all militan .
start up The proccess if you think it is easy .And make sure you bring all militan .
E-VERIFY right now. Jail time for employers of illegals. Illegal aliens have to await their day in court by returning to their own country where they actually are legal residents. Citizenship for new borns is the same as their parents. That is all the reform we need.