Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following comment about the ongoing immigration reform mark-up in the committee.
“Over the last week we’ve had a productive conversation on getting immigration reform right for the long-term. From our national security to our economic well-being, there is a lot at stake. We can’t afford to make the same mistakes as we made in 1986. We have to do it the right way. Some amendments have been adopted that make the bill a little better. But despite the thoughtful debate we’ve had this week, many good amendments, even ones that the majority of members have agreed with, have been voted down. Unfortunately, e-verify won’t be mandatory for probably six years. And, we can’t assure high-skilled Americans that they won’t be shoved aside for a foreign worker on an H-1B visa with less or equal skills. Too often, we advocate for increased visa allocations without understanding the heart of the problem. We need to do a better job of ensuring that the companies who need the visas get them. We need to do a better job of oversight.
“Americans deserve a plan that secures the border, enforces the rule of law, and protects American workers, and we have a responsibility to deliver that as the committee moves forward next week.”
