(This post has been updated.)
Objection from any one senator can thwart the vote.
Georgia’s Republican Sen. David Perdue, who had blocked the Senate bill S. 386, which would eliminate the country-specific green quota, reversed his decision on the legislation, but a vote did not take place on Thursday because of continued opposition from Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin.
The bill’s main sponsor, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, was trying to bring it to the floor through “unanimous consent.” A senator can bring a bill on the floor through “unanimous consent” and expedite proceedings, if no senator objects. If any senator objects, a vote will not take place, which is what happened in the case of S. 386.
The bill’s supporters were hoping for a quick vote when Perdue dropped his objection.
The senator’s change of mind was first reported by Bryan Lowry, Washington correspondent for the Kansas City Star. Lowry quoted the senator in a tweet on Wednesday: “I supported his bill. It’s consistent with what the White House has been working on. We just had some nuances in the language with regard to rural nurses and basically we worked that out.”
RELATED: House passes Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, H.R. 1044 (July 10, 2019)
The US House of Representatives had passed the companion HR 1044 in July.
If S. 386 becomes law, it will remove a per-country quota on employment-based green cards, which will benefit Indian nationals currently working in the United States on H-1B visas.
S. 386, or “Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019,” was introduced in the Senate by Lee on February 07. It was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on July 09.
The bill has 34 co-sponsors, including Sen. Kamala Harris, a presidential hopeful.
RELATED: The newly passed H.R.1044 raises caps for family-based green cards (July 10, 2019)
On September 19, when Lee tried to bring the bill to the Senate floor, Perdue had blocked it. The Georgia senator said at the time that he supported the bill, but needed to address the concerns of certain industries.
(Correction: A previous version of this post misidentified Sen. Dick Durbin’s state affiliation.)
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13 Comments
This is a bogus bill and I support Sen. Durbin to kill it. This bill would make citizen of every other countries backlogged in order to get green card for Indians and Chinese.
Kill the bill!!!!
Yea, roger that. Too many job-stealing indians in the US already, they should all be impeached and deported back to their own country ASAP.
Yep, roger that. Too many job-stealing non-Indians in the US already. They may have already received green cards, doesnt mean they are not stealing jobs! They should all be impeached and deported back to their own country ASAP. nodody magically becomes “permanent” in just 3 years.
It’s a massive loss to the US economy, if this bill is not passed. Because the Indian nationals don’t have any option to invest their earnings in US economy
Due to the uncertainty in getting their GC’s due to
The huge backlogs on per country limits. If this bill
Passes in respective legislation, Indians will do tons of investments in setting up business, buys houses, creates lot of new employments. People who are objecting are from low immigrating country’s and are from less talents retained .
Yes indians and Chinese might be more benifited
From per country removal because high talents
Are retained from such countries and they are the
Majority applying for H1bs and high tax paying individuals in US economy. Is this is not the part of national interest? Then why so much opposition
From the small countries? Just because they all will
Stand in one common queue and a bit delay in getting green cards, but they will get green cards
In line.
U and everyone in family is moron! Why you r in America?? Who invite you. Go back to own country.
Whoa! Sir Penise, the protector of the realm, has banished you to moron-land and ordered you to go home. That means you execute the order.
Of course is hurting the US specifically, the workers at the lower end of the employment force. IT outsourcing companies will floor the US with India Educated cheap labor to replace the US IT workers. Then the US IT degrees will become worthless. Think about it, Indian international students represent less than 20% of the international students in the US but won 72% of the total H1B lottery. This is already happening and it will become more serious if the bill is passed. Should the bill pass, it needs to apply to only the international students who are educated in the US.
Indian IT will benefit the most from this.
How does this bill harm American workers? Please specify. It would grant Green Card to folks who are already working is USA on H1B visa. It would only change their status from H1B to GC. They may or may not switch jobs after GC is approved. Let the employers decide who is the best fir for the job, H1B visa holder, GC holder or a US citizen.
We need to remove these Sen. who support this bill. This bill harms the American worker.
That is not correct. Without this bill, you are harming the American Economy. All these Indians on H1b here don’t have any incentive to invest in US since they don’t see any future in US. a Green Card can change that and make them invest in US instead of sending all that Money to India
How does this bill harm American workers? Please specify. It would grant Green Card to folks who are already working is USA on H1B visa. It would only change their status from H1B to GC. They may or may not switch jobs after GC is approved. Let the employers decide who is the best fir for the job, H1B visa holder, GC holder or a US citizen.
Dick Durbin is Illinois, not Michigan