Everybody's got issues in Politics Clinton's move stalled the bill, because Republicans insist that the issues were unrelated and should not be paired. For each of the next three years, the bill would increase from 115,000 to 200,000 the number of H-1B visas, which allow skilled workers entry for specified periods to do jobs that American workers cannot be found for. Without the bill, the number falls to 107,500 in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 and 65,000 a year after that. The high-tech industry has labeled the bill a top priority, contending there are too few qualified American workers to fill necessary jobs. The visa quota ran out in March this year, and the industry claims to have openings for 300,000 more workers.
Labor unions oppose increasing visas.
They argue the industry is looking overseas chiefly to hold down wages. They also plan to try to attach two amendments backed by Clinton and Hispanic organizations, including the National Council of La Raza. One amendment would offer permanent residence to political refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti similar to that granted those from Cuba and Nicaragua. Another amendment would grant amnesty for illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States since 1986. The current registry deadline is 1972.