Lottery to decide my life

McCain has initiated legislation to find a solution to illegal immigration through guest worker programs. His legislation coauthored with Senator Kennedy was a major focus of debate in 2006. He has supported some moves to expand immigration to the US-including expansion of the H-1B visa program (though H-1B is technically a non-immigrant visa). In 2005, he co-sponsored a bill with Ted Kennedy that would expand use of guest worker visas.McCain's campaign site

McCain and Kennedy. Check. I'll write to them,too.

Do you think it's better to send emails, or regular letters?

So... I spoke to the lawyer right now, and the picture is even more grim. Even more people applied after she gave me the number, so my odds now are perhaps 1:4 or 1:5, we don't even know. She is hoping that Congress will raise the cap, since far more people applied this year than any time before. Congress does that every now and then.

Here's an easy way to do it, for anyone else who is interested:

http://www.house.gov/writerep/

I turn to you as an individual who is frustrated and disheartened by some of the U.S. immigration policies.

As you perhaps know, the H-1B visa applications, that is applications submitted by eployers on the behalf of highly skilled, educated people that are wanted and needed in this country, just went in to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. This year there were more applications than any time before (well over 150,000), yet the cap so far remains at 65,000 places.

I am informed that the applicant's lives will be decided by a lottery. Justification? "Principle of fairness." I find that ironic. H-1B visa are supposed to be awarded on the basis of merit, yet applicants are reduced to waiting for a stroke of luck. Meanwhile, many illegal immigrants get naturalized every few years, many people cheat or marry for immigration status for payment to the spouse, some are awarded citizenship for having enough money, and I can hire undocumented day laborers at below minimum wage.

Why are educated, productive, tax paying, ethical people treated so shoddily?

These folks only want to work. They spend months putting applications together, have highest qualification and skills, and each spend over $5,000 on various fees related to this application. They are treated with little respect.

They are told that there is not enough people or money to evaluate all of the applications. That, again, is ironic to me. U.S. has money to wage war, but not enough for its own workforce, education, or health.

A friend currently undergoing the H1B Visa application process recently wrote to me:

"I have lived in the U.S. for over ten years now altogether, pay taxes, and contribute in every other way to society, like any citizen here. I am getting my doctorate, worked throughout my studies, and achieved specialization that is hard to match. I have a job offer for work that I love, I have an employer that wants only me and nobody else, yet we might not be able to work together. There are thousands of people like me, waiting for the Russian roulette outcomes."

I hope you will take the issue of cap increase or elimination on in any way you can. Not for the sake of one individual, but for the tens of thousands that it impacts, as well as for the sake of overall state of the U.S. workforce. The U.S. cannot expect to compete effectively in the world market if it denies U.S. employers the workers they need.

DURBIN AND GRASSLEY INTRODUCE FIRST BIPARTISAN H-1B VISA REFORM BILL TO PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS

Monday, April 2, 2007

[WASHINGTON, DC]- U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced "The H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 2007" late last week to overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to give priority to American workers and crack down on unscrupulous employers who deprive qualified Americans of high-skill jobs. More