White House, Tech Industry at Odds; Major Amnesty Stumbling Block

Ask an amnesty advocate why immigration reform has to be “comprehensive,” and you’ll likely get a blank stare. The suggestion that the only way to handle a major reform is to bundle everything together—amnesty for illegal aliens, higher caps on dozens of non-immigrant visas and maybe create a few new visas in the process—is nonsense.

No connection exists between the alien amnesty and more legal immigration. Deciding whether to increase H-1-B visa totals is a different debate than the one about permanent residency and work authorization for 11 million illegal aliens.

Synopsys Chairman Aart de Geus recently advanced his argument to Deputy Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank that tying the industry’s efforts for more foreign-born labor to the fate of 11 million aliens is a bad idea. de Geus didn’t say it but he’s worried that the Gang of Eight amnesty will fail. If Silicon Valley is included as part of a broad bill, it would go down with the ship.

But the White House shot down high tech’s proposal to be considered separately. Speaking in San Jose to the Silicon Valley Leadership’s CEO Summit, Blank told them that if they want more tech visas, they’ll need to join the amnesty lobby.

As Blank bluntly put it, “These are going to be linked.”

Blank echoed Senator Chuck Schumer who a day earlier spoke to the Internet Association’s Capitol Hill gathering. Said Schumer, “The idea of just pushing your own proposal is a very bad idea.”

But neither Schumer nor Blank explained why dealing with the two separately isn’t workable. Left unsaid is that it’s a “bad idea” for the White House because to pass amnesty, it will need all the help it can get. The tech industry with its influence and wealth could be a major factor in passing immigration legislation.

de Geus remains unconvinced. Referring to the failed 2006 and 2007 amnesties, he said to Blank, “I’ve seen this train before and it’s the kiss of death. If you don’t want to solve a problem, attach it to a bigger problem. I would ask that you decouple the problems.” [White House Seeks Tech’s Help on Immigration, by Michelle Quinn, Politico, March 7, 2013]

The disagreement between the administration and Silicon Valley is good news for amnesty opponents. The fewer consensuses among the parties who hope to benefit from unwarranted, unwanted and flawed amnesty, the less chance it has to pass.

The two Bush amnesties collapsed under their own weight which adds credibility to de Geus’ theory that “the kiss of death” awaits the Gang of Eight amnesty. The White House knows, on the other hand, that not enough support exists for standalone bills like the DREAM Act, guest worker programs or higher high tech visa caps.

Amnesty proponents’ inability to agree on the details is a major and possibly fatal legislative stumbling block.