Dear Friend,
We have shared with you in the past that as our bill gets closer to the finish line, and as the chances of including our bill in any package increases, we will be hit with an avalanche of shit from some companies - and this is exactly what is underway.
If you would recall, as we shared during our last call, we laid out our strategy to move H.R.392 which by adding an OPTIONAL fee - that beneficiaries who wanted to exempt themselves from the per-country cap would pay to get their Green Cards. That fee would raise $4 billion which could be used to pay for the provisions in the DACA bill and we published a guide on how you can step up and get involved.
Over the next 45-60 days as a deal on immigration is being negotiated, you will start to hear things from companies and/or lawyers about why they do not support adding a fee to H.R.392. Some of it might be couched in benevolent language. Do not listen to this!
We know that some companies (including THE BIGGEST TECH COMPANIES) are peddling this idea that they don’t want their employees to pay the fee. As we said earlier, this is wrapped around benevolent language, but you need to tell your Representative and both your Senators that there is nothing benevolent about finding ways to keep their own employees indentured, to have more control over employees and to depress wages.
We have the following action items for you:
- Make it clear to your Members of Congress that this fee is optional and only people who want to pay the fee need pay the fee, otherwise people can stay in the long green card line if they prefer to not pay the fees. If you are willing to pay the fee - MAKE IT CLEAR TO YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS THAT YOU WANT TO PAY THE FEE!
- If you work for a large Technology firm, reach out DIRECTLY to the CEO and let the CEO know that YOU HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THE FEE AND WANT TO PAY THE FEE. This is not a time to be shy or hold back - you might not realize this, but you and your entire family's future is being decided as you read this.
H.R.392 will not pass without a fee that allows H.R.392 beneficiaries to pay for the deficit that will be created by a DACA/enforcement bill - otherwise, it is very easy for Congress to say "we aren't including non-DACA items in this bill”.
In the end, unless a company is advocating to pass H.R.392 and takes active efforts to support its passage, anything a company is saying about H.R.392 is meant to kill the bill and limit your labor mobility, to keep you indentured on H-1B visa for a very long long time. The fee proposal is only the reason our bill is getting so much traction, so please keep up the good work supporting both H.R.392 on its own and selling it as a necessary and non-controversial “pay-for” for a DACA deal.
If this bill doesn’t get included in this upcoming DACA deal, then we will have no choice but to look for work-stoppage and even unionizing IT tech workers across the country and invite Unions and AFL-CIO to join us.
Thank you,
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