Posted on 05/15/2006 8:37:59 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) today unveiled an impact analysis that shows the Senate immigration bill – should it become law – would permit up to 217.1 million new legal immigrants into the United States over the next 20 years, a number equal to 66 percent of the total current population of the United States.
Even if the maximum levels are not reached, the increase to the U.S. population caused by S. 2611 will be at least 78.7 million in 20 years, just over 25 percent of the total current population. This lower estimate assumes that the bill's escalating caps on certain visas will not increase at all over the next 20 years; if the bill's caps are hit each year, the total number will be the higher estimate.
“Until now, most of us have focused on securing the border and deciding how to treat the illegal alien population already in the United States,” Sessions said. “Few, if any, of us have looked ahead to see what the long-term numerical impact of the bill would be. My staff and I have just completed such a study, and the results are shocking.”
Sessions discussed his findings at a news conference today, along with Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, who released his own analysis showing similar numbers.
“As we begin debate today on the floor, my goal is to get these numbers before my colleagues so that they can appreciate just how breath-takingly unsatisfactory this 614-page Senate bill is,” Sessions said. “We know that this country is going to treat the illegal alien population fairly. However, if the Senate wants to be successful in passing immigration reform, it should produce a bill that secures the borders and the workplace and establishes a commonsense, carefully thought out, legally enforceable policy for legal immigration in the future. For our immigration system to work, the Senate bill must guarantee that today’s facade of enforcement and illegal immigration flows won’t exist in the future.”
If the current legal immigration level (950,000 a year for 20 years or 18.9 million over 20 years) is excluded from the total, according to Sessions, the Senate bill could be described as increasing legal immigration by 59 million to 198.2 million over 20 years.
“These are actually very conservative estimates,” Sessions said. “For example, for the low end, we assumed the caps would never escalate, and we only added an average of 1.2 immediate family members coming in with each alien worker. Additionally, our numerical analysis did not add in estimates of future illegal immigration flows, or include any estimates for chain-migration – the parents, brothers and sisters that new citizens can bring in on a permanent basis.”
Chain-migration occurs when an immigrant becomes a citizen. Citizens have a legal right to bring in family members other than spouses and children. They can bring in their parents, their adult siblings and the spouses and children of their adult siblings.
“You can see how the potential exponential growth impact of the Senate legislation will cause consternation on the part of Congress and the American people ,” Sessions said.
The Senate bill would increase permanent future immigration into the United States in several ways.
LOW SKILLED PERMANENT IMMIGRATION:
H-2C Workers: By creating a new (H-2C) visa category for “temporary guest workers” (low skilled workers) with an annual “cap” of 325,000 that increases up to 20 percent each year the cap is met, the bill allows at least 6.5 million, and up to 60.7 million new guest workers to come to the United States over the next 20 years. There is nothing “temporary” about these workers. Employers may file a green card application on their behalf as soon as they arrive in the United States, or the worker may self-petition for a green card after four years of work.
H-4 Family Members of H-2C Workers: By creating a new visa category (H-4) for the immediate family members of the future low-skilled workers (H-2C), and allowing them to also receive green cards, the bill would allow at least 7.8 million, and up to 72.8 million immediate family members of low-skilled workers to come to the United States over the next 20 years.
HIGH SKILLED PERMANENT IMMIGRATION:
H-1B: The bill would essentially open the borders to high-skilled workers, as well as low-skilled workers. By increasing the annual cap of 65,000 to 115,000, automatically increasing the new cap by 20 percent each year the cap is hit, and creating a new exemption to new cap for anyone who has an “advanced degree in science, technology, engineering, or math” from any foreign university, the number of H-1B workers coming into the United States would undoubtedly escalate. The 20-year impact of this escalation could be anywhere from 1 million to 20.1 million. H-1B workers are eligible for green cards and would be allowed to stay and work in the United States for as long as it takes to process the green card application.
STEEP INCREASES TO ANNUAL GREEN CARD LIMITS:
Family Based Green Cards: The bill would increase the annual cap on family based green cards available to non-immediate family members (adult sons and daughters, adults siblings, and the spouses and children of adult siblings) by more than 100 percent, upping the current cap of 226,000 to 480,000 a year. Immediate family members are already able to immigrate without regard to the family based green card caps. The 20-year impact of this change would be an increase of 5.1 million non-immediate family member green cards.
Employment Based Green Cards The bill would increase the annual cap on employment-based green cards by more than 500 percent, upping the current cap of 140,000 to 450,000 until 2016 and to 290,000 thereafter and exempting all immediate family members that currently count against the cap today (spouses, children and parents) from the newly escalated cap. The new exemption would result in an average of 540,000 family members receiving green cards each year of the first 10 years, and an average of 348,000 family members receiving green cards each year of the second 10 years. The 20-year impact of this change would be an increase of 13.5 million employment-based green cards, for a total of 16.3 million employment-based green cards issued over the course of the next 20 years.
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These numbers are worse then Newt's, and I trust Sessions more.
Cornyn and Hutchison from Texas are opposing amnesty. They want the illegals to go home and apply for citizenship the right way. I support this approach with a speeded up program for legalization.
I also think we should repeal the anchor baby amendment.
Time to learn spanish..........
"No politician will stand up to either's complaints."
I don't know what's going on with the "black leaders", (self proclaimed). But, it won't take long before Mexicans outnumber blacks. At that point, Jesse, Al, and Louie will all take a back seat on the fast track to being irrelevant.
"There has never been a nation in world history more determined to destroy its culture than today's USA."
Rome.
This is demographic suicide. It will mean the end of the US as we know it.
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
Wow!
Rush is being VERY critical of the possible speech tonight. He is saying the Public isn't going to be fooled, so if this NG proposal has no 'teeth', it isn't going to fly.
What should be considered is the point based system that Canada and Australia use. If you speak English, you get some points. If you have a degree, you get more points. If you are in a critical occupation (doctor, nurse, etc) you get more points. If you are under 30, you get more points. If you have family in the country, you get points. When it comes time to select immigrants to enter the country, you pick the ones with the most points and go down the list until the quota for the year is full. To adjust the mix of immigrants to reflect the needs of the nation, you adjust the number of points in each category. Very flexible system.
As a thread hijack attempt, think of what those immigraiton numbers will do to housing prices! They all need a place to live. Housing bubble? What housing bubble?
What should be considered is the point based system that Canada and Australia use. If you speak English, you get some points. If you have a degree, you get more points. If you are in a critical occupation (doctor, nurse, etc) you get more points. If you are under 30, you get more points. If you have family in the country, you get points. When it comes time to select immigrants to enter the country, you pick the ones with the most points and go down the list until the quota for the year is full. To adjust the mix of immigrants to reflect the needs of the nation, you adjust the number of points in each category. Very flexible system.
I have been saying that for years. Why do we want to import poverty from third world nations. Immigrating here should be beneficial to the country as a whole. Immigrants should be financially secure or in a profession that is needed. After those qualificatiosn I don't care where they come from or what color they are.
BTTT back at you...
I trust Senator Sessions and the Heritage Foundation. You obviously have a some kind of personal vested interest in this. If people break their own families apart to come here, that is not our problem. It was their decision.
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
At this point, I'd rather they just veto the bill and let the American people take care of the problem...
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