Visas to prosperity
SELDOM HAS IT BEEN so clear that U.S. immigration policy is counterproductive to U.S. interests as it was on Monday. That’s the day companies began filing applications for high-skilled foreign workers -- and it’s also the day the quota was filled.
Technology companies and other businesses filed more than 100,000 petitions requesting H-1B visas for their employees, easily surpassing the annual 65,000 quota. With the demand for skilled workers clearly exceeding the arbitrary limit, Congress should raise the cap so fewer U.S. companies have to turn to outsourcing and more skilled people can work in the United States.
H-1B workers, typically Indian and Chinese people with technological degrees, are promised a prevailing wage. Their employers, mostly technology companies, have to attest that they have not displaced U.S. workers if more than 15% of their workforce is here on H-1B status. Employer demands for an increase in the H-1B quota (and the quota itself) have fluctuated with the economy. During the dot-com bubble, pressure to increase the cap was almost constant. In the years since, the pressure has receded, and the U.S. decreased to 65,000 -- from 195,000 -- the number of foreign workers it accepts on H-1B visas. Now pressure to allow more workers into the U.S. on H-1B status is increasing again.
More skilled immigrants would be able to remain in the U.S. if Congress allowed the H-1B visa cap to fluctuate with the market. Strictly enforcing the prevailing wage and other requirements, while also encouraging U.S. students to pursue science, would also ensure that Americans can participate in these dynamic job markets.
And -- as with immigration policy generally -- H-1B visa changes must be approached comprehensively. The H-1B is a three-year, temporary visa that can be renewed only once. Visa holders who seek to become lawful permanent residents face enormous backlogs that will only grow if more H-1B visas are granted. Ideally, an increase in H-1B visa quotas would be accompanied by an increase in the quota for green cards. Skilled workers are also more likely to stay and contribute to the U.S. economy if their immediate families can join them here; currently, family members also face severe backlogs.
President Bush appears to recognize the importance of skilled labor to the U.S. economy. “It makes no sense to say to a young scientist from India, ‘You can’t come to America to help this company develop technologies that help us deal with our problems,’ ” he said in January. And, he might have added, by coming to America, they also help the U.S. economy stay competitive.
