Information about the vote from special interest groups and other information providers in our Report Cards:
AFL-CIO
IMMIGRATION/GUEST WORKERS.
The new H-2C guest workers program included in the immigration reform bill also contained a provision to allow an automatic 20 percent increase each year above the initial 500,000 visa limit. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) offered an amendment to reduce H-2C non-immigrant guest worker visas from 500,000 to 200,000 per year and eliminate the 20 percent increase per year. The amendment passed by a voice vote after a motion to table it failed.NumbersUSA Action
Bingaman Amendment.
Motion to table the Bingaman Amendment (SA 3981) to S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. This was a procedural move to terminate further discussion of the amendment. The Bingaman amendment (submitted by Sen. Bingaman for himself and Sen. Feinstein) would cap the number of H-2C visas available annually for issuance at 200,000 and remove the 20% a year increase in annual guestworker visas. This would reduce the 10-year increase in foreign workers and their dependents from 8.4 million, as provided in the original bill, to two million. The motion to table the Bingaman amendment failed and the Bingaman amendment ultimately passed by voice vote.