The National Foundation for American Policy has released a compendium of suggestions to increase skilled immigration [1]. The groups offering suggestions include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AILA, and Tamar Jacoby; see [2] for more. And, as with all other proposals to increase skilled or low-skilled immigration or for amnesty, all of this happens against a backdrop of millions of Americans unemployed.

Rather than acting like Democrats of yore and putting American workers first, the Obama administration acts more like the Koch family, falsely thinking (or more likely just pretending to think) that increased immigration will translate into more jobs.

For instance, Alejandro Mayorkas of the USCIS is working just as fast as he can to do what Big Business wants. He'd like to implement some of Big Business' suggestions, he's just restrained by our pesky political system that might want to put our immigration policy up for a vote [3]:

Alejandro Mayorkas, the director of the USCIS, pushed back on assertions that the administration was not doing enough. "There are criticisms that we deserve, but the criticism that we're not doing enough is not deserved," he said.

"We're doing a tremendous amount across the spectrum," he explained, saying the White House immigration reform efforts were not limited to business and employment concerns but also extended to "family unity and humanitarian relief" issues.

"When we announce new initiatives, we have to implement them operationally -- and that is not something that is done overnight," he added.

"We are being incredibly forward leaning," he said, and as evidence, pointed to a recent Aug. 2 Department of Homeland Security and USCIS announcement to increase transparency and efficiency around visas for skilled workers.

Mayorkas said that he thought some of the group's recommendations were "well taken" but explained that he would have to further examine them to determine whether they might amount to regulatory and statutory changes -- ones that would ultimately require Congressional approval. "The devil is in the details," he said.

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[1]
Press release:
nfap.com/pdf/REFORM.DAYOFRELEASE.Regulations.August172011.pdf
Report:
nfap.com/pdf/ReformingEmploymentBasedImmigration.NFAPPolicyBrief.Aug2011.pdf
Note this: "The research was made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York".

[2] Some of the groups involved (see the first six links for much past coverage):
US Chamber of Commerce
Tamar Jacoby
American Immigration Lawyers Association
National Immigration Forum
US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
American Council on International Personnel
Immigration Voice
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy LLC (Fragomen Del Rey, law firm)
Chris Gafner and Stephen Yale Loehr (attorneys)

[3] From huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/18/skilled-worker-visa-reform-business-white-house_n_929944.html
by Alex Wagner of the Huffington Post. I don't know whether it's fair to say she's a complete hack who's just retailing Chamber of Commerce propaganda. But, she certainly didn't ask them any questions and she certainly didn't call Mayorkas on wanting to a) do Big Business' bidding and b) increase immigration with millions unemployed.