Judiciary Committee Rejects Poison Pill Visa Cap Amendment to Senate Bill

WASHINGTON — An amendment offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) that would have capped the number of visas available for workers was solidly rejected Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

By a 17-1 vote, the committee turned aside the Sessions amendment, which reflects the views of the most extreme anti-immigrant voices in the immigration debate and would have driven a stake through the heart of the Senate’s immigration reform bill. The only senator who voted in favor of the amendment was Sessions himself.

Below is a statement from Don Lyster, director of the National Immigration Law Center’s Washington, DC, office:

“We are pleased that the Senate Judiciary Committee continues to keep its commitment to commonsense immigration reform by striking down ‘poison pill’ provisions that are designed to kill the bill before it ever reaches the Senate floor.

“The rejection of the Sessions amendment was particularly important because it caused other conservatives on the committee to reaffirm the fact that immigration is a fundamental pillar of our society and our economy.

“We look forward to the Senate’s consideration of provisions that would protect workers, such as one by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) that would provide whistleblower protections to H-2B temporary workers. In order for the immigration system to work and to place employers and workers on a level playing field, immigrant workers must be able to live and work free from fear that they will be retaliated against if they report worksite abuses by employers.”

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