NumbersUSA Urges House to Reject
Immigration Increase by Senate

Senate Rejected Byrd Amendment to Stop the Sale of Visas for Foreign Professional Workers

WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate yesterday rejected by a vote of 14 to 85 an amendment by Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) that would have removed a Senate Judiciary Committee provision to sell hundreds of thousands of additional work visas and permanent green cards to corporations and allow them to hire foreign workers for high-tech and professional jobs in the United States.  Byrd’s amendment would have increased the L-1 visa fee by $1,500, instead.  

"The U.S. Senate failed to pay attention to the very real threat American workers face from cheap foreign labor.  While Big Business may have gotten one of the things it wants, we commend the stalwart Senators who heard and heeded the cries for help from working American families,” said NumbersUSA Executive Director Roy Beck.  “We now look to the people's House - the House of Representatives - to strip this egregious affront from the Budget Reconciliation bill and insist on the House's provisions relating to a simple L-1 visa fee.”

Senator Byrd’s amendment sought to strike a provision that was devised to satisfy the requirement for each congressional committee to come up with spending cuts or revenue increases to offset the profligate spending in recent years by Congress and the President.  The provision would sell hundreds of thousands of high-skilled American jobs over the next several years to corporations that would then be allowed to import additional foreign workers instead of hiring Americans.  A portion of the jobs would be given temporarily to foreign workers, and the rest of the jobs would be taken away from American workers altogether by importing permanent foreign workers.  These provisions would allow an immigration increase of around 350,000 a year.

“The Senate’s attempt to pay for their overspending on the backs of American workers is an unforgivable act of callous disregard to the hardworking Americans who have difficulty finding jobs in their field at a livable wage,” said Beck.  “NumbersUSA will be watching closely as this measure moves to conference committee. And Americans in every congressional district and every state will let their lawmakers hear their outrage at the Senate's sop to special interests and the Open Borders lobby," said Beck. 

The House has yet to pass their Budget Reconciliation bill and the House Judiciary Committee has passed provisions identical to those included in the Byrd Amendment.  After the House passes its version, a conference committee will reconcile the differences, including any differing immigration provisions, between the House and Senate versions.
 

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