纽约州参议员提出”2009接受中国人才法案”

ivy

经过中国职业移民组织“合法移民协会”(Legal Immigrant Association)长达一年的不懈努力，纽约州民主党参议员吉利布兰德(Kirsten Gillibrand)于6月4日提出“2009接受中国人才法案”(简称ACT Now)。

值此“六四事件”二十周年到来之际，ACT Now将纠正歧视中国移民的一个法律条款。1992年通过的“中国学生保护法案”(Chinese Student Protection Act)给予于1989年“六四事件”后在美国寻求政治保护中国学生永久居留权(绿卡)。但几乎无人知道，这是有代价的。中国职业移民的名额将每年被减去 1000个，以补偿根据“中国学生保护法案”用掉的大约55,000个绿卡名额。如这个歧视中国移民的不合理条款得不到纠正，中国职业移民的名额还要被扣减14年！

“合法移民协会”(简称“LIA”)自2007年成立以来，一直致力于通过游说国会议员和会员请愿等方式推动有利于中国职业移民的立法和行政改革，以便中国职业移民能够早日拿到绿卡。去年夏天，LIA通过其雇用的游说公司发现“中国学生保护法案”这一“秘密”后，立即着手在参众两院议员中物色能够提出纠正这一不合理条款的法案的议员。在国会山，LIA雇用的资深游说顾问奔走于各议员办公室。从西部的俄勒冈到南部的德州，LIA会员连续拜访了多位议员办公室，寻求他们的支持。由于去年年底美国经济急转直下，所有非主流法案都被搁着。今年初，接替希拉里.克林顿担任纽约州参议员的吉利布兰德在了解到这一歧视中国移民条款的来龙去脉之后，决定提出LIA游说顾问起草的“2009接受中国人才法案”(ACT Now)，并和游说顾问筹划推动该法案通过的策略。6月4日，随着吉利布兰德提出该法案，我们相信，这一歧视中国移民的条款将在不久的将来被废除。

LIA的会员多数为拥有美国硕士以上学位的高科技人员和工程师，就职于对美国经济至关重要的微软，亚马逊等高科技企业及大学研究机构。然而，每年留给中国出生的职业移名的绿卡名额仅约9,800个，杯水车薪。这些高学历人士不得不熬上4-5年甚至7-8年才能拿到绿卡。许多有志在高科技领域创业的人士因为没有绿卡，只好放弃创业理想。本来就异常稀缺的绿卡名额还要被每年减去1000，对中国职业移民实在是雪上加霜。

吉利布兰德参议员办公室在其发布的新闻稿中指出：“吉利步兰德参议员提出ACT Now这一新法案以纠正将来自中国的高科技创新者和投资者拒之于美国门外的过时的不合理条款，帮助重建美国经济并继续发展旺盛的中美关系。”

ACT Now是由LIA这一中国移民组织独立发起、推动并说服美国参议员在参议院提出的法案。回顾历史，这样的例子屈指可数。LIA感谢吉利布兰德参议员适时提出此法案，希望在美中国移民支持LIA为维护中国移民权益所作的努力。

LIA在此向广大华人社区呼吁：希望大家行动起来，动用您所能动用的资源，说服您的议员支持ACT Now ，通过媒体向华人社区宣传ACT Now，并争取其他华人组织或企业背书ACT Now。

与LIA联系，可发电子邮件：contact@legalimmigrant.org, 或致电(800)556-7065 ext.1
LIA网址：www.legalimmigrant.org

Senator Gillibrand's news release

ON 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF TIANANMEN, GILLIBRAND ACTS TO REPEAL UNFAIR PROVISION THAT ENDS ANTI-CHINESE DISCRIMINATION IN IMMIGRATION LAWS

Introduces New Legislation to Undo Provision Included in "Chinese Student Protection Act" that Decreases 1,000 Chinese Visas Each Year for High Tech Innovators, Investors Washington, D.C. - On the 20th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protest, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is introducing new legislation that would repeal a provision included in the 1992 "Chinese Student Protection Act" that decreased immigrant visas for Chinese high-tech innovators and investors by 1,000 each year. The legislation would end anti-Chinese discrimination in our immigration laws.

"This commonsense legislation will end the anti-Chinese discrimination in our immigration laws, which unnecessarily decreases Chinese visas each year," Senator Gillibrand said. "On this important anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protest, we should fix our immigration policy towards China and continue fostering a stronger productive relationship."

The original legislation was passed in 1992 to grant Chinese students living in the U.S. the opportunity to gain safe harbor by applying for immediate permanent residency. And while the provision to decrease high-tech and investor visas by 1,000 each year kept some of the best minds from doing business and creating jobs in America, it did not decrease overall immigration.

Among those the provision kept from investing in America were Chinese citizens with advanced degrees from top U.S. universities, who have been living in the U.S. on indefinite temporary status. During their time here, they'd have started new businesses in burgeoning high-tech fields and created jobs for U.S. businesses if not for this law.

This week as we honor the 20th anniversary of the outbreaks at Tiananmen Square, Senator Gillibrand is introducing ACT - new legislation to end the outdated, unfair provision that kept high-tech innovators and investors from China out of America - to help rebuild America's economy and continue fostering America's prosperous relationship with China.

yeyeshengge

受教了！是应该争取。