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Immigration July 17, 2007, 12:01AM EST

The Gandhi Protests Pay Off

Facing political pressure and legal action, the U.S. government may speed up green-card processing and make more slots available

by Moira Herbst

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A July 13 letter from Oracle to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff urges a reversal of the decision not to accept more green-card applications

After two weeks of protests by high-skilled immigrants over a broken promise to expedite the processing of green cards, the White House has approached immigration advocacy groups to work out a compromise. While the talks are ongoing and could still break down, the government is likely to reverse a July 2 decision to refuse more permanent residency applications, and will likely begin accepting them in the next few days. "I think they are determined to fix the situation," says Charles Kuck, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Assn.

Also under discussion is whether green cards that have gone unused in previous years could be used this year. As a result, one possible scenario is that the number of high-skilled workers who gain permanent residency in the U.S. this year could swell to more than twice the historical level. "They've got to do something," says one congressional staffer close to the discussions.

Visa Rallies

The high-skill workers, who are in the country legally, have taken to the streets because of a recent about-face by the federal government. On June 12, the State Dept. issued a bulletin offering hundreds of thousands of green-card applicants the chance to enter the final phase of processing, called Adjustment of Status. The workers, in the U.S. on temporary visas, rushed to complete their applications by July 2, the first day they could be submitted. But that day, the State Dept. withdrew its bulletin, explaining that the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services had already fulfilled its quota and would not accept further applications.

The reversal set off a wave of protests from a community not known for speaking out. On July 14, five hundred tech workers from companies like Sun Microsystems (SUNW), Oracle (ORCL) and Cisco (CSCO) marched in the streets of Silicon Valley to express their outrage. "Justice for Legal Immigrants" read a placard carried by one protester. "We Played by the Rules, Now It's Your Turn" read another.

The rally followed a July 10 protest in which hundreds of green-card applicants sent flowers to the director of U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services. The flowers and the rally were modeled after the nonviolent protests of Mahatma Gandhi, and they emerged from Immigration Voice, a group that advocates for high-tech immigrants in the U.S. on visas (see BusinessWeek.com, 7/13/07, "The Gandhi Protests").

Employers React

The high-skilled workers also have the strong support of their employers. American tech companies, including IBM (IBM), Motorola (MOT), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Texas Instruments (TXN), and Intel (INTC), have been pushing hard to persuade Congress to allow more skilled workers into the country, both on temporary and permanent visas. On July 13, Oracle Senior Vice-President Kenneth Glueck sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff urging him to reverse the July 2 memorandum.

"[T]he update memorandum puts a severe strain on our ability to recruit and retain highly skilled individuals, including many who were educated right here in the U.S.," Glueck wrote. "At a time when our nation's status as an innovation leader is being seriously and aggressively challenged internationally, the U.S. government should be making it easier for those who are already contributing to our economic growth and innovation leadership to remain in the U.S. on a permanent basis."

There's legal pressure being brought to bear on the government, too.

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