SENATE BILL: Immigration Reform Act of 2020 (Passed)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Well with YE objecting in full I will not bother doing a partial objection though I may take the parts from Jimmy's amendment that I agree with and compiling them into a counterproposal.

As for the bill itself, I may have more of a problem of letting large tech companies have larger control on our immigration system but I also understand the economic need for it to a certain extent.

Also family reunification visas are limited to 480,000 per year per this and is about 65% of immigrants in total. This would drop it down to 300,000. Not on board with this probably.

Could you elaborate on how this would let "large tech companies have larger control on our immigration system"?

As for that, yeah; that is (part of) the point of the bill; this would shift Atlasia's focus on immigration from family reunification to skills-based immigration. I think overall the numbers actually expand the number of visas by a very small amount if I am doing my math correctly

Popping in to the old chamber to advocate against repealing section 5 of Come out of the Shadows.

Those visas are specific to Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. They are part of a program combined with 5 years of high priority foreign development assistance to discourage illegal immigration by improving living conditions there, improving Atlasia's relationship with their governments, and creating a culture of legal immigration between Atlasia and those three countries. It doesn't impact immigration from other countries.

I'd like to ask Senators to reconsider repealing that.

Given that section has a sunset provision and how it has been in place for a long time already, I suppose we could just make it expire a year earlier (so in 2020 instead of 2021); and possibly amend the start of this bill to January 1st 2021.

The more merit based the immigration system, the more control large employers have in like Silicon Valley over hiring immigrants and I'm not sure it's worth cutting back on family immigration just to increase the number of merit visas (which to be fair for better or for worse is also often necessary).

Not necessarily so, it all depends on how much discretion you give to said silicon valley types.

For instance, the basis of my support for merit based system is on the presumption that the levels are determined not just by handouts/give aways to corporate America Atlasia, but by a committee or consortium composed of business, labor, and relevant or important groups.

That way you minimize intentional displacement of experienced workers and/or wage depression as is often the objective and the result when corporations dictate policy with no countervailing advocacy. Its about balance of interests.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

I think we should add an amendment to put in place a board that includes all of the interests that Yankee mentioned.

[Former President tack50]

For what's worth I based this bill almost as a carbon copy of what Canada uses irl.

I still fail to see why merits based immigration is a giveaway to big Silicon Valley companies. Maybe I could see it as a giveaway to big business at large, but big corporations are the ones hiring foreign workers in the first place.

If anything, this will actually reduce the dependence on big corporations for merits based immigration, as a job contract will no longer be necessary.

Which makes me realize I should propose yet another amendment so that if you can't get a job in 3 months or so your visa gets revoked I suppose (no idea how it works in Canada actually).

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The amendment is adopted.

[YE]

I think we should add an amendment to put in place a board that includes all of the interests that Yankee mentioned.

I'd be down for that for sure.

Also in regards to what tack said (don't feel like quoting him in a separate post, just because it's used in a (by US standards at least) liberal country in Canada doesn't mean it should be used everywhere And big corporations hiring workers from other countries isn't ideal for workers here (though obviously sometimes workers here are not qualified for such position especially in certain fields so this is a bit of a balancing act as I've said previously).

[Former President tack50]

Oh I most certainly agree with the point made by YE regarding foreign workers harming Atlasian workers, that is why this bill actually very marginally cuts immigration (assuming I did my math correctly; might instead rise it by a minuscule amount) and why this bill gives the president the power to further cut immigration in situations of high unemployment.

I would also note that immigration generally harms unskilled workers more than skilled workers, so tuning our immigration system towards skilled workers would help with this issue.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

If we are going to roll forward with such a board then we should decide who all should be on it? Business and labor interests are the easy ones. Is there anyone else?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Like to be more specific are there any other interest or advocacy groups that it would be wise to include in such a thing?

[Former President tack50]

Introducing the following amendment to fix a minor oversight

SENATE BILL

To reform the immigration system into Atlasia

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Immigration Reform Act of 2020"

Section 2: Categories of legal immigration to Atlasia
1. The following categories of legal permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby established:
a) Family Reunification
b) Job based immigration
c) Other immigration
2. This act shall not alter the composition or requirements for non-immigrant visas or for visas intended for temporary workers or students

Section 3: Family Reunification immigration
1. Family reunification visas may only be issued to the unmarried children, parents above the age of 65, unmarried siblings or to the spouse of an Atlasian citizen or permanent resident who has been living in the Republic of Atlasia for no less than 5 years.
2. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
3. During the application process for family reunification, priority shall be given to the foreign relatives of Atlasian citizens that have had no criminal records in the Republic of Atlasia for the past 10 years

Section 4: Job immigration
1a. Job immigration into the Republic of Atlasia shall be based on a points based system. All applicants who score 67 or more points shall be awarded a job immigration visa.
1b. Immigrants receiving a job visa may be able to bring with them to Atlasia as permanent residents their spouse as well as any children below 18 years of age.
1c. Job immigration visas may be revoked in the event of a failure to meet any continuing requirements as described in this Section for longer than 6 months consecutively.

2a. Up to 24 points may be awarded for proficiency in the English language; 6 each for Reading comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
2b. Immigrants scoring below an IELTS level of 5.5 (or equivalent) many not apply for a job immigration visa.
2c. Points shall be awarded for scoring 5.5 or above in each of the 4 categories described in section 3a; with 2 points for scoring between 5.5 and 5.99; 4 points for scoring between 6 and 6.99, 5 points for scoring between 7 and 7.99 and 6 points for scoring 8 or more points.

3. Up to 25 points may be awarded for education proficiency, according to the following equivalency list:
a) High School diploma: 5 points
b) 2 year apprenticeship after high school: 10 points
c) 3 year college degree after high school: 15 points
d) 4 year Bachelor's degree: 20 points
e) Double Bachelor: 22 points
f) Master's degree: 23 points
g) PHD: 25 points

4a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
4b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
4c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from sections 4a.(a-e).
4d. a) Medical doctors who intend to work in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.
)b Any person who is awarded a job visa because of meeting the requirement in 5d. a) shall have 90 days to gain employment, or to regain employment after a job loss, in such area, or the job visa shall be revoked.

5a. Up to 12 points may be awarded for an applicant's age. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 shall be awarded the full 12 points. For each year after that, the number of points awarded shall be reduced by 1 per year, until reaching 0 at age 47.
5b. No persons under the age of 18 may apply for a job immigration visa to the Republic of Atlasia

6. Up to 15 extra points shall be awarded to any workers who attempt to immigrate to the Republic of Atlasia with a job offer for a job that is full time and skilled. These immigrants shall receive the full 15 points, everyone else shall receive 0 points

7. Up to 15 points may be awarded for extra requirements:
-The applicant having completed high school or a college degree in Atlasia shall award 5 points in this section
-Having any sort of legal job experience in Atlasia for at least one year shall award 10 points in this section
-5 points shall be awarded for having a relative living legally in the Republic of Atlasia. Relative shall be defined as the applicant's sibling, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

8. If the number of applicants surpasses the maximum amount of people who may apply for an immigrant visa, priority shall be given to the highest scoring applicants. In the case of a score tie; the applicants with job offers shall be admitted first.

Section 5. Other immigration
1. The following extra categories of permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby retained, with their current requirements:
a) Outstandingly skilled people, as currently immigrating through the EB1 visa program
b) Certain special categories of immigrants, as currently immigrating through the EB4 visa program
c) Investors, as currently immigrating through the EB5 visa program
2. A new immigration visa shall be created, targeted at retirees who desire to move to the Republic of Atlasia. People immigrating through this visa shall prove that they are financially independent, able to afford their retirement in Atlasia and may not be allowed to take any job offers in Atlasia. The details of this visa shall be devised by the department in charge of internal policy in Atlasia.

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals and adjustments
1. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is hereby repealed.
2. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th of the Atlasian population, as established in the last decennial census  available. This section shall refer to the census of NPCs made by the Atlasian Census bureau; and not to the census of active players in Atlasia done by the Registrar General.
3. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.

Section 7: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted 90 days after the passage of this Act

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Senators have 24 hours to object.

[Esteemed Jimmy]

No objections.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Amendment is adopted.

[YE]

If we are going to roll forward with such a board then we should decide who all should be on it? Business and labor interests are the easy ones. Is there anyone else?

I'd say labor and small business.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

So how would these boards work, exactly?  Do they vote on who should be allowed in?  What if the business side overwhelmingly supports hiring certain workers and labor doesn't?

[Former President tack50]

So how would these boards work, exactly?  Do they vote on who should be allowed in?  What if the business side overwhelmingly supports hiring certain workers and labor doesn't?

I second this question and I'd add, what would be their exact point? Just setting the quotas? Or would they be able to modify the requirements somehow?

[YE]

So how would these boards work, exactly?  Do they vote on who should be allowed in?  What if the business side overwhelmingly supports hiring certain workers and labor doesn't?

I second this question and I'd add, what would be their exact point? Just setting the quotas? Or would they be able to modify the requirements somehow?

Yeah I'm not exactly sure what the text could look like here.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

So how would these boards work, exactly?  Do they vote on who should be allowed in?  What if the business side overwhelmingly supports hiring certain workers and labor doesn't?

I second this question and I'd add, what would be their exact point? Just setting the quotas? Or would they be able to modify the requirements somehow?

The idea is to prevent labor from getting screwed by business in these actions, by making sure they have an equal say in the numbers of visas given out.

[Former President tack50]

Ok, then I guess something like this is what everyone wanted? This is a non-binding board but I suppose it can be made binding as well.

SENATE BILL

To reform the immigration system into Atlasia

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Immigration Reform Act of 2020"

Section 2: Categories of legal immigration to Atlasia
1. The following categories of legal permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby established:
a) Family Reunification
b) Job based immigration
c) Other immigration
2. This act shall not alter the composition or requirements for non-immigrant visas or for visas intended for temporary workers or students

Section 3: Family Reunification immigration
1. Family reunification visas may only be issued to the unmarried children, parents above the age of 65, unmarried siblings or to the spouse of an Atlasian citizen or permanent resident who has been living in the Republic of Atlasia for no less than 5 years.
2. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
3. During the application process for family reunification, priority shall be given to the foreign relatives of Atlasian citizens that have had no criminal records in the Republic of Atlasia for the past 10 years

Section 4: Job immigration
1a. Job immigration into the Republic of Atlasia shall be based on a points based system. All applicants who score 67 or more points shall be awarded a job immigration visa.
1b. Immigrants receiving a job visa may be able to bring with them to Atlasia as permanent residents their spouse as well as any children below 18 years of age.
1c. Job immigration visas may be revoked in the event of a failure to meet any continuing requirements as described in this Section for longer than 6 months consecutively.

2a. Up to 24 points may be awarded for proficiency in the English language; 6 each for Reading comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
2b. Immigrants scoring below an IELTS level of 5.5 (or equivalent) many not apply for a job immigration visa.
2c. Points shall be awarded for scoring 5.5 or above in each of the 4 categories described in section 3a; with 2 points for scoring between 5.5 and 5.99; 4 points for scoring between 6 and 6.99, 5 points for scoring between 7 and 7.99 and 6 points for scoring 8 or more points.

3. Up to 25 points may be awarded for education proficiency, according to the following equivalency list:
a) High School diploma: 5 points
b) 2 year apprenticeship after high school: 10 points
c) 3 year college degree after high school: 15 points
d) 4 year Bachelor's degree: 20 points
e) Double Bachelor: 22 points
f) Master's degree: 23 points
g) PHD: 25 points

4a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
4b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
4c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from sections 4a.(a-e).
4d. a) Medical doctors who intend to work in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.
)b Any person who is awarded a job visa because of meeting the requirement in 5d. a) shall have 90 days to gain employment, or to regain employment after a job loss, in such area, or the job visa shall be revoked.

5a. Up to 12 points may be awarded for an applicant's age. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 shall be awarded the full 12 points. For each year after that, the number of points awarded shall be reduced by 1 per year, until reaching 0 at age 47.
5b. No persons under the age of 18 may apply for a job immigration visa to the Republic of Atlasia

6. Up to 15 extra points shall be awarded to any workers who attempt to immigrate to the Republic of Atlasia with a job offer for a job that is full time and skilled. These immigrants shall receive the full 15 points, everyone else shall receive 0 points

7. Up to 15 points may be awarded for extra requirements:
-The applicant having completed high school or a college degree in Atlasia shall award 5 points in this section
-Having any sort of legal job experience in Atlasia for at least one year shall award 10 points in this section
-5 points shall be awarded for having a relative living legally in the Republic of Atlasia. Relative shall be defined as the applicant's sibling, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

8. If the number of applicants surpasses the maximum amount of people who may apply for an immigrant visa, priority shall be given to the highest scoring applicants. In the case of a score tie; the applicants with job offers shall be admitted first.

Section 5. Other immigration
1. The following extra categories of permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby retained, with their current requirements:
a) Outstandingly skilled people, as currently immigrating through the EB1 visa program
b) Certain special categories of immigrants, as currently immigrating through the EB4 visa program
c) Investors, as currently immigrating through the EB5 visa program
2. A new immigration visa shall be created, targeted at retirees who desire to move to the Republic of Atlasia. People immigrating through this visa shall prove that they are financially independent, able to afford their retirement in Atlasia and may not be allowed to take any job offers in Atlasia. The details of this visa shall be devised by the department in charge of internal policy in Atlasia.

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals
1. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is hereby repealed.

Section 7: Numbers of visas
1. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
2. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th of the Atlasian population, as established in the last decennial census  available. This section shall refer to the census of NPCs made by the Atlasian Census bureau; and not to the census of active players in Atlasia done by the Registrar General.
3. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.
4. If the unemployment rate has stayed below 5% for at least 3 consecutive years, and wage growth has matched or surpassed the rate of inflation for the past 4 years; the Atlasian department for internal policy may increase the numbers in sections 7.1 and 7.2 by up to 30%, after a recommendation from the Immigration Analysis board
5. An Immigration Analysis board shall be established. This board shall have representatives from labor unions and small business associations and be in charge of making recommendations to the Atlasian department responsible for internal policy and to the Atlasian Congress with regards to the number of immigrants that should be allowed into Atlasia, as well as the requirements for said immigrants to fulfill.

Section 8: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted 90 days after the passage of this Act

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Going to go ahead and call 24 hours for objections though technically it could be said it hasn't been officially offered yet, I am going to treat it as such to avoid further delay.


My preference would be binding, but at least this gets the mechanics of the board into the bill for now.

[Esteemed Jimmy]

No objection.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The amendment is adopted.

[Devout Centrist]

Proposing an amendment:

SENATE BILL

To reform the immigration system into Atlasia

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Immigration Reform Act of 2020"

Section 2: Categories of legal immigration to Atlasia
1. The following categories of legal permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby established:
a) Family Reunification
b) Job based immigration
c) Other immigration
2. This act shall not alter the composition or requirements for non-immigrant visas or for visas intended for temporary workers or students

Section 3: Family Reunification immigration
1. Family reunification visas may only be issued to the unmarried children, parents above the age of 65, unmarried siblings or to the spouse of an Atlasian citizen or permanent resident who has been living in the Republic of Atlasia for no less than 5 years.
2. During the application process for family reunification, priority shall be given to the foreign relatives of Atlasian citizens that have had no criminal records in the Republic of Atlasia for the past 10 years

Section 4: Job immigration
1a. Job immigration into the Republic of Atlasia shall be based on a points based system. All applicants who score 67 or more points shall be awarded a job immigration visa.
1b. Immigrants receiving a job visa may be able to bring with them to Atlasia as permanent residents their spouse as well as any children below 18 years of age.
1c. Job immigration visas may be revoked in the event of a failure to meet any continuing requirements as described in this Section for longer than 6 months consecutively.

2a. Up to 24 points may be awarded for proficiency in the English language; 6 each for Reading comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
2b. Immigrants scoring below an IELTS level of 5.5 (or equivalent) many not apply for a job immigration visa.
2c. Points shall be awarded for scoring 5.5 or above in each of the 4 categories described in section 3a; with 2 points for scoring between 5.5 and 5.99; 4 points for scoring between 6 and 6.99, 5 points for scoring between 7 and 7.99 and 6 points for scoring 8 or more points.

3. Up to 25 points may be awarded for education proficiency, according to the following equivalency list:
a) High School diploma: 5 points
b) 2 year apprenticeship after high school: 10 points
c) 3 year college degree after high school: 15 points
d) 4 year Bachelor's degree: 20 points
e) Double Bachelor: 22 points
f) Master's degree: 23 25 points
g) PHD: 25 50 points

4a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
4b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
4c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from sections 4a.(a-e).
4d. a) Medical doctors who intend to work in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.
)b Any person who is awarded a job visa because of meeting the requirement in 5d. a) shall have 90 days to gain employment, or to regain employment after a job loss, in such area, or the job visa shall be revoked.

5a. Up to 12 points may be awarded for an applicant's age. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 shall be awarded the full 12 points. For each year after that, the number of points awarded shall be reduced by 1 per year, until reaching 0 at age 47.
5b. No persons under the age of 18 may apply for a job immigration visa to the Republic of Atlasia

6. Up to 15 30 extra points shall be awarded to any workers who attempt to immigrate to the Republic of Atlasia with a job offer for a job that is full time and skilled. These immigrants shall receive the full 15 points, everyone else shall receive 0 points

7. Up to 15 points may be awarded for extra requirements:
-The applicant having completed high school or a college degree in Atlasia shall award 5 points in this section
-Having any sort of legal job experience in Atlasia for at least one year shall award 10 points in this section
-15 points shall be awarded for having a relative living legally in the Republic of Atlasia. Relative shall be defined as the applicant's sibling, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

8. If the number of applicants surpasses the maximum amount of people who may apply for an immigrant visa, priority shall be given to the highest scoring applicants. In the case of a score tie; the applicants with job offers shall be admitted first.

Section 5. Other immigration
1. The following extra categories of permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby retained, with their current requirements:
a) Outstandingly skilled people, as currently immigrating through the EB1 visa program
b) Certain special categories of immigrants, as currently immigrating through the EB4 visa program
c) Investors, as currently immigrating through the EB5 visa program
2. A new immigration visa shall be created, targeted at retirees who desire to move to the Republic of Atlasia. People immigrating through this visa shall prove that they are financially independent, able to afford their retirement in Atlasia and may not be allowed to take any job offers in Atlasia. The details of this visa shall be devised by the department in charge of internal policy in Atlasia.

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals
1. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is capped at 100,000 per fiscal year hereby repealed.

Section 7: Numbers of visas
1. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
2. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th 1/200thof the Atlasian population, as established in the last decennial census  available. This section shall refer to the census of NPCs made by the Atlasian Census bureau; and not to the census of active players in Atlasia done by the Registrar General.
3. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.
4. If the unemployment rate has stayed below 5% for at least 3 consecutive years, and wage growth has matched or surpassed the rate of inflation for the past 4 years; the Atlasian department for internal policy may increase the numbers in sections 7.1 and 7.2 by up to 30%, after a recommendation from the Immigration Analysis board
5. An Immigration Analysis board shall be established. This board shall have representatives from labor unions and small business associations and be in charge of making recommendations to the Atlasian department responsible for internal policy and to the Atlasian Congress with regards to the number of immigrants that should be allowed into Atlasia, as well as the requirements for said immigrants to fulfill.

Section 8: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted 90 days after the passage of this Act

[Former President tack50]

Well, parts are friendly and parts are unfriendly and parts I suppose can be solved by taking an average or something (the points changes)

Not sure what to do

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

I object to the amendment.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

A vote is now open on the amendment by Devout Centrist, I believe it is S25:01 but verifying that right now. Senators please vote Aye, Nay or Abstain.