Immigration in SOTU Tonight

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Andrew Wood

“My presidency is entering the fourth quarter. Interesting stuff happens in the fourth quarter.”

President Barack Obama, 12/19/2014

The annual State of the Union is the president’s opportunity to sketch out an agenda for the year, emphasize his priorities, and deliver reprimands and congratulations. The broad topic of immigration is bound to receive some air time in the speech tonight. The past year has been an intensive year in immigration for President Obama, one in which Congress dithered on passing immigration reform and performed various legislative delay tactics on an important issue that seemed prime for change in 2012. After initially waiting for the midterm elections in November, President Obama announced a series of executive orders that to improve our overall immigration system in various ways. The highlights of the speech included work authorization for H-4 visa holders (dependents of H-1B visa holders), Deferred Action for Parent Arrivals (DAPA), expanding the provisional waiver, and a pledge to modernize the nonimmigrant and immigrant visa programs. Opposition to this approach culminated last week when the US House of Representatives voted against funding DAPA and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). The Senate has yet to vote, but it is expected that it will vote against the bill.

We are excited to see the president’s speech as it pertains to immigration. We are hopeful that it will continue to build upon his immigration speeches from November, as our immigration system incrementally improves for the better of immigrants, non-immigrants, and United States citizens. We will recap our thoughts on the immigration portion of the State of the Union address later in the week.

More H-1B Visas Would Help the U.S. Economy

Posted on June 7, 2014 by Andrew Wood

A report was released by the Partnership for a New American Economy this week, documenting the damage that H-1B denials has incurred on U.S. cities and U.S. born workers. In “Closing Economic Windows: How H-1B Visa Denials Cost U.S.-Born Tech Workers Jobs and Wages During the Great Recession,” (available here) that trend is documented poignantly in the tech fields.

H-1B Visas Causes Firms to Go Overseas

It is estimated up to 120,000 jobs are available each year in tech fields. Only 51,000 American graduates are trained to meet that opening, as only 45% of STEM degrees issued at research intensive universities in the United States are obtained by US born graduates. That widening chasm has forced employers in the sector to recruit foreign graduates, but the difficulty of obtaining their H-1B visas has caused some firms to move operations overseas. For example, Microsoft opted to open a Vancouver office with 400 tech jobs. Smaller firms have felt the pressure acutely and have responded similarly.

Credit: @timothykrause – Flickr

The H-1B visa is critical for foreign workers seeking to ply their craft in the United States. It is frequently issued to computer programmers and health care professionals, as well as to workers throughout the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field generally. However, it is far from being a panacea to solving labor shortages in those arenas because the quota of H-1B visas that are issued per year lag far behind business needs. The number was augmented to correspond with the tech boom of the late 1990s, but it has reverted from a peak of 195,000 per year in 2003 to 65,000 per year in 2004. It has remained at that incongruous 65,000 (with an exemption) cap since, despite the increasingly vocal urgency of employers. In 2014, for the second year in a row, the number of H-1B applications received in the first week of April far exceeded the number of available H-1B visas for the entire year.

H-1B Visa Fears

A common fear is that increasing the number of H-1B visas to foreigners will lead to wage depression and loss of job opportunity for American-born workers. However, the report authored by Americans for a Renewed Economy rebuts those notions by showing H-1B visa denials have injured American born workers’ wages and job prospects. By examining H-1B visa denials in 2007-2008 and their aftermath in 236 cities, the report shows that those denials hampered job creation and wage growth for American-born computer specialists, college graduates, and non-college workers. American workers lacking a college degree were the most injured by the recession in 2007 and 2008. The growth of jobs for non-college educated U.S.-born slowed down by 7.1% every time a city experienced a 1% “shock” in the available supply of computer workers. The report points to surrounding jobs eliminated as a result of tech jobs being unfulfilled, such as human resources, sales, operations, and management.

Improving the American Immigration System

The Partnership for a New American Economy was formed by Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch for the purpose of improving the American immigration system. Its chairmen include some of the most prominent businessmen and mayors in the United States. The businessmen include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Bill Marriot, Disney CEO Bob Iger, and Boeing CEO Jim McNerney. The mayors include San Antonio’s Julian Castro and Philadelphia’s Michael Nutter.

DHS Proposes H-4 Employment Authorization

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Andrew Wood

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a proposed rule available for public comments that would allow certain eligible H-4 dependent spouses to apply for employment authorization. An H-4 visa is for the spouses and children under 21 years of age of H-1B visa holders, who are employed in the United States in specialty occupations. DHS touts this possible regulatory change as an important way to alleviate the economic burdens that dependent spouses of principle H-1B holders face. Another important benefit could be easing the transition from nonimmigrant to lawful permanent resident status. The possibility of employment authorization would be limited to H-4 visa dependent spouses where the principal H-1B spouse is the beneficiary of an approved I-140 EB visa petition and where the H-1B spouse has been granted a post-6th year H-1B extension under the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act.

DHS announced this proposed rule as a possibility over a year ago. The ostensible reason for authorizing H-4 dependents for employment is to increase retention of highly skilled H-1B workers in the United States. One of the pressing problems, which is mentioned frequently in the public comments section, is that the wait for long-term permanent residence is lengthy. This may also have the effect of encouraging the entry of H-4 eligible spouses who were separated from their H-1B spouses in order to continue their own careers in the United States. The public comments contain many personal stories of immigrants and their spouses facing problems that this proposed rule would help solve, such as talented spouses who were excelling in their careers in their home country being precluded from practicing their professions in the United States. Opposition to the proposed rule focuses on concern that U.S. citizens will be laid off in favor of cheaper labor. Immigrants have expressed concerns their fear that H-4 holders will end up working in low-skilled position in restaurants and gas stations, rather than pursuing their career paths.

The public comment was made available on May 12 and comment period will end on July 11. If you would like to add your own comment, you may here.