Bush immigration plan could affect techies

Here's an older story from ZDnet:

Details of President Bush's plan to tackle illegal immigration remain fuzzy, but the program could create a new way for technology employers to bring in foreign workers.
If so, the stage will be set for another round of debates about the practice of temporarily importing guest workers for tech tasks--already a sore spot for critics of the H-1B and L-1 visa programs.

"Should the Bush proposal be implemented, it would be disastrous for American programmers, engineers and everyone in the country who can't make a living on the stock market alone," said John Miano, founder of software programmer advocacy group the Programmer's Guild.

...But in a speech last week at the Cato Institute, an administration official indicated the program could extend to highly skilled positions as well. Margaret Spellings, assistant to the president for domestic policy, said details of the program have yet to be worked out. But she said the program will be "non-sector specific" and mentioned nurses and teachers as possible workers covered by the program...

As I discussed here, this is just one of the strange things Margaret Spellings had to say:

"We do envision that [the Bush amnesty/guestworker plan] would be open to any type of employee and any type of employer, such as nurses, teachers, high-tech workers, low-skilled workers. This is a concept that can apply broadly"

Immigration2003 · Sat, 02/28/2004 - 14:01 · · Importance: 1