Guest Post by Joe Guzzardi
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives rammed through HR 1044, a job-busting bill that would, if it becomes law, eliminate the 7 percent employment-based visa country cap and would raise the family-based visa cap from 7 percent to 15 percent.
Despite much controversy surrounding HR 1044, debate was limited to 20 minutes, regular rules were suspended, and the final tally was 365-65, with Democrats voting 225 yea, eight nay; Republicans, 140 yea, 57 nay, with three abstaining, and positioned as a bipartisan success. Defenders of American jobs, pro-labor progressives and organizations that promote fair immigration, including U.S. Tech Workers, however, universally denounced the bill.
