RSS
By David O. Williams
Headline RSS Feed- Recent town of Vail community survey identifies parking as top issue for townies
- Vail Christian High School board buys back bonds, rescues next school year
- Vail Resorts to host Lindsey Vonn celebration in Vail Wednesday, March 31
- Vail Resorts Epic Pass, Summit Pass available through November 30, 2009
- 9 candidates, including 3 incumbents, running for 4 Vail Town Council seats Nov. 3
- Nominating petitions for four open Vail Town Council seats available Sept. 14
- Eagle County commissioners to vote Tuesday on temporary marijuana dispensary regulations
- Vail Town Council rejects ballot question to change council terms
- Polis defends health-care reform at packed town hall in Edwards
- Vail blaze illustrates need for defensible space, roadless rule changes, state says
- All Real News Articles
August 7, 2008 — GOP Senate candidate Bob Schaffer Monday told a largely partisan group of about 25 Eagle County Republicans that he doesn’t believe in comprehensive immigration reform and that it could take “a couple of decades” to deal with the issue.
“The strategy that was tried last year of trying to pass one bill that was going to fix everything, it’s not practical,” Schaffer said at a fundraising luncheon in Edwards. “It’s not going to happen. You have to compromise on every single section of that bill to the point where you’re going to get a mediocre attempt at a solution.”
Schaffer said he favors a more incremental legislative approach that tackles immigration issues individually at the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.
“It’s probably going to take at least a couple of decades to get us where we need to be long-term,” Schaffer said. He added that he favors a much tougher approach to border security, a crackdown on benefits to illegal immigrants, a national identification system and the expansion of temporary worker programs.
Schaffer’s congressional junket to the Marianas Islands in 1999 to investigate labor abuses in the American protectorate’s guest-worker program has become a campaign issue in his battle with Democrat Mark Udall for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Wayne Allard.
Despite revelations the trip was arranged by the law firm of now-jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was working on behalf of the textile industry to thwart labor reforms, Schaffer has since held up the guest-worker program on the islands as a model for the mainland U.S. On Monday Schaffer reiterated his support for expanding temporary worker programs.
“We need to have rational immigration quotas that are pegged to specific industries at certain times of the year,” Schaffer said. “There ought to be a formula-driven annual quota for temporary immigration work visas.”
In the past, however, Schaffer has been less than supportive of increasing the number of H1B, or skilled-worker, visas, saying in a May debate on a Fort Collins radio station: “'The H1B visa issue has been abused ... resulting in jobs being lost here in this country.”
Asked on Monday about the critical labor shortage in Colorado’s $2.6 billion ski and tourism sector – the second largest revenue-generating industry in the state after agriculture — Schaffer said he would support expanding the H2B visa program for seasonal tourism workers as long as there is a formula that takes into account domestic unemployment and seasonal industry need based on hard numbers.
There are currently 60,000 H2B visas issued nationwide (30,000 in the summer and 30,000 in the winter), but all of the winter visas have been allotted for the coming ski season and industry experts say there is still a critical shortage of workers. The point isn't lost on Schaffer's Democratic opponent, Mark Udall, says his spokeswoman Taylor West.
“[Udall's] cosponsored legislation that would expand the cap on legal immigrant worker visas, H1B and H2B visa programs, and Bob Schaffer has been on both sides of this issue," said West, in a phone interview after Schaffer's appearance in Edwards.
“It’s not really clear where [Schaffer] is. He has argued against it and he’s argued for it. Now he’s trying to say he’s for it because he knows he’s in a place where people are looking for solutions.”
West also said that Colorado voters are interested in breaking up congressional gridlock on immigration reform, and they want to do it in a comprehensive way that recognizes the economic necessity of legal temporary worker programs.
“To the extent that [Schaffer’s] been asked to talk about his solution on the immigration problem, he points to the Marianas Islands where they have a major problem with virtual slave labor and that he’s only aware of because of his Abramoff-sponsored junket there,” West said.
Schaffer, who served in Congress for six years before stepping down because of a term-limit promise in 2003, said Udall’s voting record since his congressional term began in 1999 has been one that’s lax on enforcement and rewards illegal immigration.
“[Udall’s] voting record is against efforts to try to secure the border, it is in favor of providing cash incentives for those who are here illegally, using your money to pay for college tuition for people from France who want a cheap college education in America,” Schaffer said during the Monday luncheon.
West countered that Udall has voted for beefing up border patrols, implementing pilot surveillance programs and installing border fencing where appropriate. But she added he also supports a path to citizenship for the 12 million to 15 million illegal immigrants already here so that they can be “brought out of the shadows” for national security reasons.
“People are looking for a real and comprehensive solution on this immigration problem, and Bob Schaffer is admitting he doesn’t have that plan, so between that and the totally false attacks on Mark’s record, I’m not sure that’s the kind of leadership Coloradans are looking for,” West said, adding she has no idea what Schaffer is referring to regarding French college students.
“I’m befuddled as to what in the world he’s talking about, so I’d love to know,” she said.
5 Comments on "GOP Senate candidate Schaffer tells Vail Valley backers immigration reform 'decades away' "
Dave D'Rave — August 7, 2008
The purpose of the H1-B visa program is to import Cheap Slave Labor and then lay off US citizen workers.
H1-B is a joint effort by Corporate Crimnals in this country and the Government of India whose ultimate purpose is to enable India to take over the global software industry.
So far, they have made excellent progress. Because of H1-B, and because US college students have basically been told that the corporations will not hire US citizens for tech jobs, enrollment in Computer Science and Engineering in this country is half of what it was ten years ago.
Engineer — August 7, 2008
Dave D'Rave is correct
H-1B visa program is nothing more than a worker replacement program with cheap foreign labor...
and who supports this? Immigration Lawyers who benefit by processing thousands of H-1b applications
You think I'm crazy???
You must watch this shocking video!
"How NOT to hire an American worker"
www.youtube.com/programmersguild
Why isn't the media covering this?
and why are our politicians selling out American workers to the cheap labor lobby?
Brittanicus — August 7, 2008
Engineer is correct! Our politicians pull the wool over our eyes, while all the time favoring the the special interest lobby. It's all about cheap labor. The Globalists have a forward agenda of the free movement of these people in every niche of the North American Continent?
GOP Senate candidate Bob Schaffer sounds like he has the rights of legal citizens first.
There should be no excuse for violations of any Immigration law, or any law. That includes Section 274 felonies under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, INA 274A(a)(1)(A): they broke Federal law. It states, "..a person (including a group of persons, business, organization, or local government) When a citizen or permanent resident breaks a law, if caught we immediately end up in front of a judge. I have been reading more and more the lenient sentences illegal aliens get or even a slap on the hand. Obama, McCain, Governors, Mayors, Councilors, City managers take notice! 80 percent of the American people are watching! Not just Postville, Iowa meatpacking facility were in violation of the law. How many more nefarious companies out their, violating safety and immigration laws. When ICE knocks on the door eventually--as they will, under the Federal SAVE ACT (H.R.4088). NUMBERSUSA has all the answers to the pestilence called OVERPOPULATION
NotSoros — August 10, 2008
Udall's mantra (with Kennedy, MoveOn and Kos) of illegal immigrants being “'brought out of the shadows' for national security reasons" is a bunch of nonsense. All they need to do is look at the last couple of years of the socialist lead "May Day Rallys" where the LaRaza and the US Communist Party hold hands and sing "let our illegals be seen".
kottcamp — August 17, 2008
I think the issue is a little more complicated than simply trying to get cheaper labor.
I think engineers shoot themselves in the foot by not wanting their performance to be measured accurately.
Good engineers in the US are dramatically underpaid and bad engineers are dramatically overpaid. If a company has no idea who is who, they'll look to buy cheaper inputs (or they'll go bankrupt).
Companies look for the highest return on their investment. They know their cost, but without accurately tracking engineering performance, they don't know their output ... so they can't do an accurate ROI.
Engineers need to embrace having their performance and quality measured if they hope to compete with (quite often, but certainly not always) poorly trained H-1B visa holders.
