Tech Industry Pushes to Amend Immigration Bill

By Somini Sengupta, New York Times
May 19, 2013 

SAN FRANCISCO — The technology industry got much of what it wanted in a bill that overhauls federal immigration law.

But in the give-and-take of political bargaining, the legislation emerged with some provisions the industry considers unappealing. Now its lobbyists are feverishly working to get rid of them.

Whether it gets its way could shape, in part, the fate of the overall package — and with it, the fate of millions of migrants to this country.

The industry achieved its main goals in the draft Senate bill: an easing of the green card process and an expansion of the number of skilled guest worker visas. That draft, though, includes language that it considers excessive regulatory oversight of when a company can hire a temporary foreign worker and lay off an existing American worker.

Executives from Silicon Valley companies say such language would effectively keep them from using the larger numbers of temporary work permits, known as H-1B visas. [...]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/technology/tech-industry-pushes-to-amend-immigration-bill.html