

Democrats' immigration reform plan tightens H-1B rules, loosens others (sec. IV) - anigbrowl
http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/REPAIRProposal.pdf

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spamizbad
I don't know enough about the details of H1Bs to comment on the changes made,
but this looks promising:

-Green cards will made available to foreign students after completing a STEM-related MS* (or greater) assuming they've stated an intent to immigrate.

-Per-country immigration caps will be lifted for these individuals.

* Corrected, thanks jorgeortiz85

~~~
anigbrowl
Well, green cards are immediately available to anyone who already has a STEM
degree from a US university, and a job offer - regardless of their previous
intent. Not quite pg's founders visa, but close - a US partner with some
capital to employ the person would qualify, I think..

Caps on immigration are lifted for anyone applying for permission to study an
advanced STEM degree.

The H-1B modifications fix (or attempt to fix) a lot of things about that
program which critics of immigration say allow foreign workers to displace US
ones, which should reduce opposition.

~~~
jorgeortiz85
This is factually incorrect. There are various work permits available to
students of US universities (CPT, OPT), as well as work visas for people with
degrees (H-1B, etc), but people with STEM degrees from US universities with
job offers don't have a green card (permanent residency) immediately
available.

~~~
anigbrowl
My post above is meant to summarize the changes suggested in the reform
proposal, not current law. Sorry if my uae of the present tense resulted in
confusion; I thought the context was obvious.

~~~
jorgeortiz85
Ah, sorry for misreading you.

While I think these changes are great, they'd actually be a kind of anti-
founder's visa. Entrepreneurial foreign students would be encouraged to take
normal jobs to get the green card, rather than start startups. (In general you
can't have a significant equity stake in a company that's sponsoring you for
work, as it's considered a kind of "self-sponsorship".)

~~~
anigbrowl
Hmm, that's a good point about the equity test; although a green card rather
than a visa tied to a single sponsor is a much more flexible residency
document. I'm going to be asking my representatives to support this (reform in
general) so I'll throw in a link to pg's essay to emphasize that possibility.

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sigzero
We don't need a national id card...we will have a biometric social security
card.

~~~
jorgeortiz85
That caught my eye too. But the proposal also says:

 _It will be unlawful for any person, corporation; organization local, state,
or federal law enforcement officer; local or state government; or any other
entity to require or even ask an individual cardholder to produce their social
security card for any purpose other than electronic verification of employment
eligibility and verification of identity for Social Security Administration
purposes._

Of course, the cynic would say those restrictions will be easier to remove
once the biometric ID card is already in place.

~~~
Zak
It used to be illegal to use an SSN as an ID number for other purposes (e.g.
in place of a separate employee or student ID number). Now it is not.

A bad mechanism put it place with a good policy will almost invariably be
abused in the future; it's easier to change policy than to create a mechanism.

~~~
anigbrowl
What's bad about it?

~~~
Zak
Having a universal government-issued ID number makes it easier for both
government and non-government organizations to track various aspects of your
behavior. If you don't intuitively understand how that's problematic, I'm not
sure I can properly explain it.

~~~
anigbrowl
But a social security number already works this way. It's tied to bank
account, credit score, driving license (in California) and what-all else. The
difference being proposed here is that a modern ID card would replace the
frankly ancient SSN card which is just a piece of card with a name and number
typed on it, and incredibly easy to fake/exploit. I mean, people are still
churning out fraudulent documents with the aid of _typewriters_ :
<http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/46911?t51hb>

A modern ID card with basic authentication and anti-counterfeiting features
isn't exactly the gateway to totalitarianism, unless you're one of those
people that thinks the IRS isn't really legal or something.

~~~
Zak
_But a social security number already works this way. It's tied to bank
account, credit score, driving license (in California) and what-all else._

Until the 80s, _that was illegal_.

A more universal isn't the gateway to totalitarianism, nor is CCTV on every
street corner, data retention laws for private ISPs or warrantless searches of
private email[0]. All these add up, but they're not enough on their own.

Imagine though what might happen if we had someone like Dick Cheney as
president and some disaster allowed him to declare a state of emergency. I
think it's a good idea to be extra careful with this sort of thing; it can get
out of hand long before you know it.

[0] <http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/04/13>

