Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 1044
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, a few steps from the Senate Chamber, at my whip's office, on the credenza behind my desk, is a framed government document. It is my mother's naturalization certificate. She was an immigrant to this country. She was brought here at the age of 2 from Lithuania. She lived long enough to see me being sworn in to the U.S. Senate. I am proud of the fact that I stand here today as the son of an immigrant. That is my story. It is my family's story. It is America's story.
I believe immigration has made America the Nation that it is today. Immigrants are an integral part of our economy, our culture, and our soul.
In the midst of this deadly coronavirus pandemic, we should never forget that 1 in 6 healthcare and social service workers--that is 3.1 million people out of 18.7 million--is an immigrant. They risk their lives every day in the midst of this pandemic for the good of this Nation. Immigrants are playing this critical role in the battle against COVID-19. Yet our broken immigration laws do not allow many of them to fulfill their dreams of finally becoming Americans.
Thousands of immigrant workers, including many health workers, are suffering because of a serious problem in our immigration system--the green card backlog. What is a green card? A green card is our immigration ticket. If you are here as a temporary worker, a green card or legal permanent resident status allows you to remain in the United States without having fear of deportation and to be on a path toward permanent citizenship in the United States.
Green cards are critical in the lives of so many who are here on temporary and work visas. The backlog in this system puts families at risk of losing their immigration status, as they wait year after weary year to finally make it through this green card backlog, and it stops their ability, many times, to participate in the fight against COVID-19 and to work toward building our economy.
Under the current law, there are not nearly enough immigrant visas-- also known as green cards--available each year. The current numbers for 140,000 EB immigrant visas were established in 1990--30 years ago. The American economy has doubled, but the number of green cards has remained the same. As a result, immigrants are stuck in a crippling backlog year after year after year. Close to 5 million future Americans are in line, waiting for these green cards. Many are working in the United States on temporary visas while many are waiting overseas and are separated from their families. Only 226,000 family green cards and 140,000 employment green cards are available each year.
The backlogs are a real hardship on these families who are caught in this immigration limbo. For example, the children in many of these families age out and face deportation. How does this happen? Well, those applying for the green cards also list their spouses and children. If they have to wait a long period of time and the children reach the age of 21, they are no longer protected by the parent's efforts to obtain the green cards, and they can be deported at any time. For many children who age out and face deportation as they reach the age of 21, it is a family disaster.
The solution to this green card backlog is eminently clear to anyone who looks at it: Increase the number of green cards. The number that might have made sense 30 years ago makes no sense today.
The senior Senator from Utah, Senator Lee, with whom I have worked on previous legislation, has introduced S. 386, known as the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, to address this issue. I have a basic concern with this bill, and I have told Senator Lee. S. 386 adds no additional green cards, and without additional green cards, S. 386 will not reduce the backlog or the wait.
Here is what the Congressional Research Service says about Senator Lee's legislation. To all of those following this debate, don't take my word for it; read the Congressional Research Service's study that was released on March 26, 2020, entitled the ``Employment-Based Immigration Backlog.'' What does it write about Senator Lee's bill? It writes:
S. 386 would not reduce future backlogs compared to current law. . . . The total backlog for all three categories [of employment visas] would increase from an estimated 915,497 individuals currently to an estimated 2,195,795 individuals by FY2030. These outcomes would occur whether or not S. 386 is enacted [and here are the operative words] because the bill maintains the current limit on the number of green cards issued.
That is the bottom line. If you don't change the number of green cards and 5 million people are in the queue, waiting for 140,000 employment green cards and 226,000 family green cards, you understand the math.
Despite my concerns that S. 386 would not work as intended, I agreed to sit down with Senator Lee and work in good faith to resolve our differences. Last December, we reached an agreement on an amendment to his bill that addressed many of these concerns.
I want to be clear. This amendment was far from perfect and not what I would have written. The biggest problem is that it still does not increase the number of green cards. As a result, it would not eliminate the backlog. But it has made a substantial improvement to his original bill.
Here is how it reads:
It protects immigrants and their families who are stuck in the backlog. Immigrant workers and their immediate family members would be allowed to ``early file'' [a provision that Senator Lee suggested and I accepted] for their green cards. They would not receive their green cards early, but they would be able to switch jobs and travel without losing immigration status.
I thought that was fair. Early filing adds a critical protection that was not in the original Lee S. 386. It prevents the children of immigrant workers from aging out of green card eligibility so that they will not face deportation while they are waiting for green cards.
Our agreement also included a green card set-aside for immigrant workers who were stuck in the backlog overseas. The amendment would reserve 4,600 green cards on an annual basis for immigrant workers who would not be eligible for early filing because they would be outside the United States. This number is based on the approximate number of people who apply for employment green cards from overseas each year.
Finally, our agreement would crack down on the abuse of H-1B temporary work visas. I thought this was going to be an easy provision. It has turned out to be the real problem in this bill, and let me tell you why. The amendment prohibits companies from hiring additional H-1B workers if the companies' workforces have more than 50 employees and if more than 50 percent are temporary workers. This 50-50 rule is from the bipartisan H-1B reform bill that I offered with Senator Grassley, Republican of Iowa. This provision was included in the comprehensive immigration reform bill, which I voted for and which passed in the Senate. Senator Lee has said, ``This is a commonsense reform to root out abuse.''
When most people think of the H-1B visa, they think of well-known companies--Microsoft, Google--that hire top-notch professionals at top dollar when no American is available. That is how the program was supposed to work, but the reality is different. In fact, the top recipients of H-1B visas are outsourcing companies that use loopholes in the law to exploit immigrant workers and even offshore American jobs.
In the most recent year for which data is available, 8 of the top 10 recipients of new H-1B visas were outsourcing companies. The vice president of one of them, Tata--one of the leading firms--candidly acknowledged that it uses H-1Bs to exploit immigrant workers.
He said:
Our wage per employee is 20-25 percent lesser than the U.S. wage for a similar employee. . . . The issue is that of getting workers in the U.S. on wages far lower than local wage.
It is important to understand that the vast majority of immigrant workers in the backlog in the United States is on an H-1B temporary work visa. So if we want to stop the future exploitation of immigrant workers and the displacement of American workers, we have to stop the abuse of H-1B visas.
Back in December, I asked my Democratic colleagues to support this bipartisan agreement that Senator Lee and I reached. They all agreed. I told Senator Lee that I wanted to move immediately to solve this problem. There were so many people whose lives were tied up in this debate. However, Senator Lee asked me for more time to discuss it with his colleagues. I agreed.
In March, 3 months later, Senator Lee told me he wanted to make significant changes in the agreement, and he said that without these changes he could no longer support it.
Some of the changes were made at the request of the Trump administration, which I will note is not exactly the most reliable or objective source on advice on immigration. Let me briefly explain the changes Senator Lee demanded.
The original version of Senator Lee's bill provides that no individual who had already been approved for a green card would receive the green card at a later time than they otherwise would have. This provision, known as a hold harmless clause, is a critical protection that assures immigrants who have been waiting years, patiently, in line that nothing we do on the floor will change the number of years they have to wait--perhaps improve them but not make them worse.
Now, at the request of the Trump administration, Senator Lee wants to delete this hold harmless provision which was in his original bill. That would jeopardize many people who are innocently waiting patiently for their opportunity.
Second, Senator Lee wants to delay for 3 years the effective date of the 50-50 rule to crack down on outsourcing companies.
Why on Earth would we give companies that are outsourcing American jobs and exploiting immigrant workers a free pass for 3 more years?
Third, at the request of the Trump administration, Senator Lee wanted to make two changes that would allow early filing for people who are stuck in the green card backlog. He would delay early filing for 1 year--1 more year for children to age out; 1 more year for them to wait. Why?
That means that any children who age out in the meantime lose their chance for a green card and will be subject to deportation.
He would also require that immigrant workers could only ``early file'' after their green card petition had been approved for 2 years--a 2-year delay on top of a 3-year delay. Any children who had aged out during this new 2-year waiting period would not be protected and would also be subject to deportation.
Why is Senator Lee--or at least those in the Trump administration advising him--so afraid that these children might have a future in America?
When we met in March, I told Senator Lee these changes were not acceptable. It has now been 7 months since Senator Lee and I reached our original agreement and more than 4 months since we met in March. Immigrants who are stuck in the backlog and their children have waited long enough.
I am now going to ask unanimous consent on my agreement with Senator Lee from December 2019--the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, as amended by the Lee substitute amendment.
1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the Lee amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
Removing the hold harmless provision, to me, is fundamentally unfair to anyone who has been waiting patiently for a green card. Why would the Senator jeopardize anyone and make them wait even longer for a green card? That was one of the modifications he suggested.
The two other modifications the Senator suggested delayed protection for children that left them subject to deportation for 2 to 3 years. Why would we do that? We both agree that is a terrible outcome. That was one of his modifications as well.
As far as the 50-50 rule, listen, I believe that is what is driving this conversation. These outsourcing companies make a bundle of money, and there are people who want to keep them in business and making money, even at the expense of American workers, and I think that is wrong. I really do.
I can't believe that that is what is really going to stop us now at this point, to try to protect these outsourcing companies for 3 years before this provision affects them.
As far as what we can do here today, I think what I am going to offer next is going to be the simplest thing we can achieve and maybe more at a later date. But let us protect the children. That is the next thing I am going to offer.
Let us protect the children and make sure that as they are waiting in line, they can't age out and be deported. That is not an unreasonable request.
So I am going to refuse to agree to the modification, but I will offer protection for the children next, and I hope--let's agree on that today and continue the rest of the discussion beyond.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I have a few minutes more to close this debate. I ask forbearance of those who are prepared for the 4 p.m. vote.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I am sorry we were unable to reach an agreement today.
The proposal which I am about to make, called the Protect Children of Immigrant Workers Act, simply ensures that children will not age out in this process.
How many times do parents come to me with tears in their eyes saying: Don't hurt my child.
Here is our chance, as we work out all the other issues, to take care of this one provision. It would not increase the number of green cards. It does not get into the other issues we have debated. I ask the Senator to please, for the sake of these children, give them the protections, and let us continue to try and negotiate the other provisions.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in the interest of the moment, I cannot offer my third amendment, but I will say this: It will be back. This is a chance to do something for the children. It is very simple. You know what it is. Let's do this.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source