Two high-ranking Republican Congressmen recently introduced legislation to spur economic growth within the United States by improving high-skilled immigration programs.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) recently co-introduced the Supplying Knowledge Based Immigrants and Lifting Levels of STEM Visas Act, it is also known as the SKILLS Visa Act.
“In today’s global economy, our nation needs access to the world’s best talent to maintain our competitive edge,” Goodlatte said. “Although high-skilled immigrants are often in demand by American employers, many of them end up on the green card waiting list for years. Consequently, many of these foreign workers and students go back to their home countries and work for one of our global competitors.”
The proposed bill is designed to provide American employers with access to the world’s best talent by allocating green cards to foreign graduates of U.S. universities with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields. It would also increases the H-1B visa cap for high-skilled workers and repeal the employment-based green card per-country cap.
“This bill is an investment in our nation’s future,” Issa said. “The United States is a country of innovation and opportunity that has long been a bastion for the world’s best and brightest. In addition to keeping the world’s best and brightest here in the U.S., the SKILLS Visas Act will modernize immigration laws to help our growing technology sector.”