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Procedural Path Of The Senate Immigration Bill
The Senate immigration reform debate has officially begun. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture on the motion to proceed Thursday on S. 744, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” the first step to having the full Senate debate the measure after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved it a few weeks […]
Read MoreUtah business leaders push for immigration reform
Emilee Eagar, Deseret News SALT LAKE CITY — Utah business leaders are telling Utah’s senators and representatives that now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform. The Partnership for a New American Economy, Salt Lake Chamber and 48 people in the business community signed their names to an open letter addressed to Sen. Orrin Hatch, […]
Read MoreStates Work To Improve Immigration Policies As Senate Immigration Bill Debate Begins
State legislatures are mostly winding down their 2013 legislative sessions after several states made huge strides on immigration reform. While Congress continues to debate how to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, several states have moved to make qualified undocumented immigrants eligible for in-state tuition rates and to allow undocumented immigrants to drive legally. These and […]
Read MoreMedicare’s Health and Well-Being Depends on Immigrants
Immigrants’ access to affordable health care is one of the most contested issues in the current immigration reform debate. Most advocates of comprehensive immigration reform point to the need to ensure that aspiring citizens have opportunities to access appropriate health care since such access will impact their ability to learn, to work, and to contribute […]
Read MoreExperts from Left and Right Agree on Economic Power of Immigration Reform
In recent years, study after study has demonstrated a simple yet economically powerful truth about broad-based immigration reform: workers with legal status earn more than workers who are unauthorized—and these extra earnings generate more tax revenue, as well as more consumer spending, which creates more jobs. As a new report from the Center for American […]
Read MoreWhat Does the Success of the Mark-Up Tell us About the Coming Full Senate Vote on Immigration?
One year ago, with the presidential race in full swing and proponents of self-deportation making the headlines, it would have been difficult to predict the extraordinary vote that took place Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ten Democrats and three Republicans voted to pass S. 744 out of committee and send a comprehensive immigration bill […]
Read MoreSenate Judiciary Committee Reaches Agreement on Immigration Reform Bill
After three weeks and hours of debate over five days, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved S. 744, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” on a bipartisan 13-5 vote, with GOP Senators Lindsey Graham (SC), Orrin Hatch (UT), and Jeff Flake (AZ) voting with the Democrats. Advocates in the hearing room burst into […]
Read MoreDay 4 of Senate Immigration Mark-up Goes Late into Night
Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee began its fourth day—and likely last week—of the immigration reform bill’s mark-up. After spending most of the day finishing the Title 3 (interior enforcement) amendments, the senators began on the last part of the bill, Title 2 (legalization), which includes the path to citizenship. They considered 50 amendments and approved […]
Read MoreFacts About H-1B Workers and the Innovation Economy
While widespread research documents a critical need for skilled workers in the United States to maintain and strengthen our innovation industry, myths exist in opposition to programs designed to help alleviate that shortage. In particular, the H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign-born workers, primarily used for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, is a […]
Read MoreFueling the Recovery
How High-Skilled Immigrants Create Jobs and Help Build the U.S. Economy
With the U.S. economy still recovering, it may seem counterintuitive to believe that any industry would benefit from having more workers. But that is precisely the case when it comes to those industries which depend upon highly skilled workers. The United States has long faced a dilemma in this respect: the U.S. economy is, in general, absorbing more high-skilled professionals than the U.S. educational system produces or that are available in our workforce. That is one reason so many highly skilled workers in the United States are immigrants. For instance, in “STEM” occupations (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the foreign-born account for 26.1 percent of workers with PhDs and 17.7 percent of those with master’s degrees. However, arbitrary limits imposed by the U.S. immigration system, particularly the inadequate supply of green cards and H-1B visas, have restricted the ability of the U.S. to compete in the global battle for talent and ideas. Given that highly skilled professionals tend to create jobs through their innovative work, such limits are economically self-defeating.
High-skilled immigrant workers create new jobs.
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