Comment: HR1044 n S386

The appropriations bill was supposed to be finalized Monday December 14 night. As of this writing, it is 60 hours late and news reports indicate that it is now to be completed by Monday the 21st--a delay of 120-150 hours or 5-7 days. The stated reason for the delay is inclusion of covid relief into the appropriations bill.

The odd thing is that nothing is leaking about the 2,000+ page bill from either side. What does that mean for the bill and what does that mean for immigration? Firstly between now and Monday, there is plenty of time for mischief. The lack of leaking indicates that there is a broad bipartisan agreement on almost all of the issues in the bill--so it is not in the interest of either party to leak to seek a political advantage. In a mammoth appropriations bill of 2.5 Trillion dollar magnitude, it is easy to tag on $1billion measures to buy support of specific Representatives/Senators without causing an uproar.

On immigration enforcement, the parties remain at their customary positions on thorny issues such as the border wall and ICE detention beds, so nothing much in enforcement will likely change in the bill. But benefits are another story. H2As and H2Bs are distinct candidates for inclusion, especially because Senator Tom Tillis, freshly re-elected, is likely to carry water for both: H2A--which typically has strong Republican support and H2B which is too narrow an issue to raise any serious opposition. Is anything likely on Dream? We do not think so. The advantage of pushing for a path to citizenship for Dreamers in the next Congress is politically more advantageous to everyone than merely granting status to Dreamers this late in this Congress.

That brings us to HR 1044/S 386. Prioritizing these benefits over Dreamers is dangerous for Speaker Pelosi's legacy, and may even jeopardize her re-election as speaker for reasons we wrote about in Immigration Daily on 12/11/2020. Also, as the bill benefits Chinese EB5s and Indian EB2/EB3s while hurting everyone else, it thus creates infighting among immigration benefits advocates. There has been a deafening silence on the inclusion of HR 1044/S 386 in the appropriations bill--this means that the decision on its inclusion or exclusion has likely already been made and maybe only a few dozen people know the situation for sure, and they are not talking. Given all the above we think that the balance of probability is that HR1044/S386 is not in the appropriations measure that will soon become law. Dream advocates should bear this in mind, since nothing is over till the fat lady sings, and she ain't singing yet for the last act of this Congress.

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Focus: Early Bird: 2021 PERM Update Webinars
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Joel Stewart (Discussion Leader) practices exclusively in the area of immigration law. He specialized in Romance and Slavic Linguistics before receiving a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law, and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Russian. He is Past President of the South Florida Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and is a nationally recognized authority on employment-based immigration matters as well as a popular speaker at for national and local bar associations throughout the United States. Mr. Stewart is the editor of The Perm Book, the definitive authority on the subject of PERM processing of labor certifications, and has been writing the BALCA Case Summaries since 1987. Mr. Stewart is also General Counsel to the Brazilian Consulate in Miami and Honorary Consul of Brazil in Florida.

Rami Fakhoury is the founder and Managing Director of Fakhoury Global Immigration, USA PC (FGI), one of the largest independently owned business-based immigration law firms in the United States and a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rated firm. FGI embodies Rami's life-long belief in the vital contributions that immigrants make to America's economy and society, advances his goal of helping businesses and organizations to meet their talent mobility needs, and assists talented and ambitious individuals in realizing their career aspirations. Rami's publications comprise several immigration law books including, as editor, The Consular Posts Book, 2015-2016 ed. (ILW.com: 2016) and USCIS Immigration Procedures and US State Department Consular Processes (ILW.com: 2009); and, as author, The Immigration Practitioner's Guide to U.S. Export Control Regulations (ILW.com: 2011) and The PERM Book, 3rd ed. (ILW.com, 2018). He has also written a regular column on global IT and US immigration law for the Financial Times of India, authored numerous policy articles and white papers, contributed articles to Lexology, Mondaq, and Crain's Detroit Business, among others, and is a frequent presenter at immigration and trade group conferences. Rami has organized informational sessions and webinars for businesses, universities, and other stakeholders worldwide, and has presented to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on several occasions.

Matthew Morse Matt Morse has been practicing employment-based immigration law for over 20 years. He has experience with many areas of Green Card processing, including PERM labor applications, immigrant visa petitions, and Adjustment of Status applications. He has experience with Naturalization issues, and family-based immigration matters, and has extensive experience with many nonimmigrant visa categories, including the B, E, F, H, K, L, O, R, and TN categories, as well as consular processing matters. He has strong knowledge of federal immigration statutes and regulations. As a Partner at Fakhoury Global Immigration, Matt's experience includes Extraordinary Ability Alien cases, National Interest Waiver cases, Outstanding Professor/Researcher cases, Multi-National Manager and Executive cases, as well as health care worker immigration cases. Matt earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his J.D. from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Michigan Bar Association.

Harry Sheinfeld is a PERM Consultant and a Former DOL Solicitor with years of deep experience on PERM adjudications.

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