Politico
By Seung Min Kim and Jessica Meyers
May 16, 2013
The standoff over high-tech visas in the Senate Gang of Eight immigration bill will drag into next week, as negotiators try to lure a key GOP senator without upsetting the bipartisan compromise.
Even with the delay, the bill is expected to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee this month. Majority Leader Harry Reid wants it on the floor in June. But Thursday’s slowdown reinforces the influence both Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and the tech industry wield in the broader debate.
Hatch, who is pushing for more tech industry-friendly measures and is a critical swing vote for the overall immigration bill, said his amendments will likely come up when the markup resumes Monday morning.
“They have to be addressed” in committee, Hatch told POLITICO Thursday. “I mean, I can’t support the bill without that. Not that I’m that important, but I can’t support the bill without straightening that out.”
Senators had planned Thursday to tackle Hatch’s amendments, the most controversial of the temporary worker visa provisions — known as H-1B. The changes would ease restrictions on tech companies that make use of the H-1B visa but don’t rely on it as many IT outsourcing firms do. Tech advocates warn that the current bill would wound businesses, sacrifice talent and send companies abroad. And they’ve linked much of their support to those amendments.
Labor groups and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a member of the Gang of Eight, says Hatch’s proposals would put American workers at a disadvantage and won’t support changes that significantly alter the bill.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Wednesday afternoon that he was in talks with Hatch, as well as representatives in the tech industry, to smooth out a deal. Gang of Eight negotiators met Wednesday night, but reached no resolution.
“The current language in the bill will push companies to send people overseas, to hire people overseas,” Hatch said Thursday. “We don’t want that.”
Though negotiators are still talking behind the scenes, the committee’s leader wants to move along quickly so as to finish the legislation before the Memorial Day recess.
“At some point, we have to vote on these things,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said.
Despite the high-tech visa stalemate, the committee continued chugging along Thursday to refine the 867-page legislation representing the best chance at comprehensive immigration reform in years.
Reid said he will make sure the Gang of Eight bill is brought up on the Senate floor in June, even if it interrupts pending legislation.
“Although immigration is a complex and controversial issue that deserves ample time for thoughtful debate and consideration, it is also too important to delay action any longer,” Reid said.
Several other sticking points remain. Republican senators continue to push for verification tools that extend beyond E-Verify and include biometric controls.
“I don’t believe this bill will pass unless we have a biometric system,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said.
The current bill would turn E-Verify into a mandatory system and expand it to include photos. The electronic verification system is considered a “trigger” that must be in place before an undocumented immigrant can gain citizenship. Committee Republicans say the proposal doesn’t go far enough and have found an ally in Gang of Eight member Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
That dissent has caused a sudden rift in the Gang of Eight bloc. Negotiators contend a biometric entrance and exit system is too costly and uncertain to implement now.
“I want biometrics as far as the eye can see,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Gang of Eight member, said. “But to make it a trigger in light of how much it costs and how long it takes I think goes too far.”
Senators did agree Thursday to several E-Verify provisions, including an amendment by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) that would require annual audits by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General and one by ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that would help prevent identity theft by allowing parents to lock Social Security numbers of their underage children. A portion of an amendment by Grassley that would require a weekly report of people who fail to show up in the system, also passed.
Franken pulled an amendment that would delay E-Verify implementation for small businesses because, he said, it would have wound up as a deal breaker.
In sharp contrast to the Senate, E-Verify’s trigger provision has turned into a particular tension among House negotiators and threatens to derail a bill.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), also on Thursday, pulled an amendment that would have considerably increased the caps in the guest worker program, doubling the existing 200,000 ceiling to 400,000 visas. The current language resulted from negotiations between unions and the Chamber of Commerce.
Lee said he plans to introduce it on the floor.
“The single fact remains, “ Lee said, “that if we set a cap that is too low, we’ll face labor shortages very likely to lead to more of the same kind of illegal immigration that we’ve seen in recent years.”
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