SB 2016-050 - Come Out Of The Shadows Act (Back to House)

[Anna Komnene]

Are the crickets hopping around on tumbleweeds a sign that people want to vote on this?

[Anna Komnene]

The bill does allocate 1 billion for improving border security at points of entry already, so we could probably just add a clause to that saying that includes upgrading equipment to do the visa entry/exit program. 

I did some looking around and found a study from the bipartisan policy center (headed by people like Bob Dole, Olympia Snowe, and Byron Dorgan) that said the reason why it hasn't been implemented isn't for lack of wanting to but because we basically don't have the necessary equipment for exit checks at the Mexican border. (Of course Congress would pass a bill that nobody in government actually knows how to enforce.  ).  So part of the funds for border security in this bill could go to upgrading our equipment and researching to find an efficient way to do that process.  If you think we need more resources to make that upgrade, we could increase the number.

[Anna Komnene]

Okay, sounds good.  I added this change to Scott's amendment.  Basically it increases the border security allocation by 800 million for the visa verification program and its infrastructure.

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[Anna Komnene]

The visa program was NeverAgain's idea and he wrote in the bill that it would bring in over a billion in new revenue.  I'm not sure on the exact number but with the number of visas and considering the bidding for them, it makes sense.

Section 6 of the bill also puts the money generated from fees and fines toward border security, in addition to the worker verification system, worker training programs, and visa backlogs.  If we assume that half of the estimated undocumented population took advantage of this program, that would bring in about 3.2 billion in revenue without even considering the tax liabilities clause.  So I think that there would be sufficient funds from that to supplement the visa program funds if needed.

[Anna Komnene]

Fair point on the root causes section.  I hadn't considered that and it's not really how I intended it to be.  I'll amend it, so that the aid is based on the percentage of undocumented migration *now* and will last for five years, to be re-evaluated at that time.  Though ideally the border enforcement measures combined with visa programs would mean that there wouldn't be much incentive for people to use unofficial channels to immigrate to Atlasia.  That said, I firmly believe that it's essential to improve the economic conditions of these countries or no amount of border security or monitoring will have any effect.  In the grand scheme of things, people will do what they need to do to protect their families, regardless of the cost or risk.  If we don't want people to make those decisions, then we need to make sure they don't want to leave.

The payroll tax might be something we could include if people want to also, but I personally find the spirit behind it unnecessarily discriminatory against migrant people, which is also how I feel about legalization vs path to citizenship (would not support that change).

Legalization and eventual citizenship should actually be the best thing for eliminating the problem of non-competitive wages, as one of the primary reasons why that exists is because undocumented immigrants aren't in a position to accept anything different for fear of reprisal, etc.

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[Anna Komnene]

^

Does anyone have ideas to address President Yankee's concern?  I'm open to suggestions.

[Anna Komnene]

I'm still not really sure, but I'll propose this amendment to keep thing moving along.

Section 5: Addressing Root Causes of Illegal Immigration
1. Countries that account for at least 5% of unauthorized migration at the time of introduction of this bill to Atlasia shall be designated as priority recipients for foreign development assistance for the years of 2017-2021, with their status to be reevaluated by the Secretary of State after that time.
2. An additional 100,000 visas shall be created annually for immigrants from the above countries.
3. A "highest bidder" system will be set up so that whichever employer is willing to pay more for each individual visa will be given them. 50,000 will be given for "high-skilled" workers, and the other 50,000 for lower-skilled workers. This will bring in over $1 billion in new revenue.
4. At the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, the above visas may be reduced by 10% for each 1% that quarterly GDP growth is below 3%.
4.5. Individuals awarded the above "high-skilled" work visas will be admitted to Atlasia as conditional residents and may petition for permanent resident status after their 3-year visa is up.  Likewise, for "low-skilled" workers, they may apply for permanent resident status after their 1-year visa is up.
5.6. An employer is allowed to refuse to renew an employee's work visa (if they do refuse, the employee must be notified at least 6 months before the visa expires), at which point, the employee (and their family) is able to apply for permanent resident status.

[Anna Komnene]

Alright, unemployment sounds good.  If someone has an amendment, they can propose it and I'll probably deem it friendly.

[Anna Komnene]

Sounds reasonable to me.  Amendment is friendly.

[Anna Komnene]

I'm sympathetic to everyone who's living here and wants to become a citizen.  That's why I wrote the bill after all, but I think it makes sense to have some consequences.  That's why the DREAM section exists so that the process is easier for people that were too young to really make any decisions on their own at the time of entry.  Personally, I'm not sure that it would be fair to treat long term undocumented people any differently than shorter term ones, as long as they were old enough to make adult decisions when they came.  So, I would prefer to keep the bill as is.

[Anna Komnene]

I'm ready.  This is the bill with all our amendments for the record.

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[Anna Komnene]

So are we going to have a vote soon?

[Anna Komnene]

AYE