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- High-skilled bills have momentum
- New GOP congress makes passage likely
UQ – Will passHigh-skilled immigration reform will pass nowLee 15 – analyst @ IB Times (Brianna, “Immigration Reform 2015: High Hopes For High-Skilled Immigration Reform, Even As Congress Battles Obama,” IB Times, http://www.ibtimes.com/immigration-reform-2015-high-hopes-high-skilled-immigration-reform-even-congress-1783946)//BB Immigration reform is one of the most divisive issues in Congress right now, but for bills favoring high-skilled immigrants, there may be some hope. Senators introduced two bills this week to increase and streamline high-skilled immigration, and the sponsors say they’re optimistic about their prospects.∂ Measures to expand immigration channels for high-skilled workers, particularly in the tech industry, have long enjoyed bipartisan support but have fallen victim to the thornier politics of comprehensive reform. Passing the bills separately could be a win for business interests that want skilled labor and signal some progress on immigration from Congress. But detaching them from a comprehensive bill might dim the chances for legislation on more polarizing issues, like pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.∂ The Immigration Innovation Act, also known as I-Squared, was introduced Tuesday in the Senate by a bipartisan group of six including Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn; and Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The bill would drastically expand the number of available visas for temporary high-skilled workers, raising the existing cap of 65,000 to 115,000, with room to expand up to 195,000 under certain circumstances. The proposal also exempts some categories of immigrants from the quota for employment-based green cards, effectively doubling the number of those available visas.∂ A separate bill called the Startup Act, backed by six senators including Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Mark Warner, D-Va., would create a new type of visa for entrepreneurs looking to start companies in the United States.∂ Neither bill is a new proposal; various versions of them have cropped up in Congress before. But reform of the high-skilled immigration process has usually been attached to broader legislation as a sweetener for lawmakers to pass it.∂ Now the new Republican-dominated Congress seems more inclined to implement piecemeal reform, rather than a sweeping comprehensive bill. “Just because we can’t do everything doesn’t mean we can’t do some things,” Moran told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. “In my view, Congress makes a mistake when it tries to do everything in one piece of legislation.”∂ Immigration is a particularly sore subject in Congress right now, as House Republicans voted Wednesday to defund President Barack Obama’s executive action granting deportation relief to some 4 million undocumented immigrants. The House also narrowly passed a bill to undo deportation relief for undocumented childhood arrivals under the president's 2012 executive order. Passing measures for high-skilled immigrants would give the Republicans something to point to when accused of blocking any immigration reform. ∂ Not all Republicans are on board, however. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., released an immigration handbook Tuesday that outlined arguments against increasing temporary high-skilled worker visas. “It is understandable why these corporations push for legislation that will flood the labor market and keep pay low; what is not understandable is why we would ever consider advancing legislation that provides jobs for the citizens of other countries at the expense of our own,” he wrote. ∂ Nevertheless, analysts say the bills have a strong chance of passing both houses. “Congress seems much more amenable to high-skilled reform than they were before,” said Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute. “Republicans have been on board with expanding high-skilled immigration for a very long time. Now that they control the Senate, they can control the discussion on that, and they’re going to push for more liberalization of the system than they would have gotten in a mixed Congress.” High-skilled bills have momentumNational Journal 6-2 (“Pathways to Reform: A Discussion on High-Skilled Immigration Policy,” https://dc.linktank.com/event/pathways-to-reform-a-discussion-on-high-skilled-immigration-policy)//BB While it appears unlikely that Congress will take up a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year, efforts are underway in Congress by proponents of high-skilled immigration reform to gather momentum for reforms to legal immigration laws for high-skilled workers.∂ Supporters want to increase the availability of H-1B visas and create more access to green cards for high skilled foreign nationals. While technology companies insist the demand for high-skilled workers far exceeds the country's supply of domestic labor in STEM fields, critics say the industry has created an artificial shortage to keep wages low. New GOP congress makes passage likelyWadhwa 15 – former professor @ Harvard, fellow at Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University, director of research at Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke, and distinguished fellow at Singularity University (Vivek, “Sensible immigration reform may finally have a chance in Washington,” http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/16/sensible-immigration-reform-may-finally-have-a-chance-in-washington/)//BB Congress’ inability to move forward on immigration reform has taken a toll on the country’s economic growth and global competitiveness. Witness the rise of Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Xiaomi — which now have their eyes on U.S. markets — and of their counterparts in India. Entrepreneurs worldwide are building the same technologies as Silicon Valley is. America has lost its monopoly on innovation.∂ But there may finally be hope to slow the skilled immigrant exodus that is in progress. New legislation, called the Immigration Innovation (“I-Squared”) Act of 2015, prescribes some very sensible reforms.∂ This bill increases the cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000 and allows it to reach 195,000 in years of high demand; removes the limits on immigrants with advanced degrees; allows the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work, so that they are not confined to their homes; and eases restrictions on changing jobs so that workers aren’t held hostage to abusive employers who pay lower-than-market wages.∂ Most importantly, the bill enables the recapture of unused green card numbers in order to reduce wait times for the more than a million skilled immigrants who are trapped in limbo, often waiting for more than a decade to get their visas. And it exempts advanced STEM-degree holders, persons with extraordinary ability, and dependents of skilled immigrants from the visa caps. To retrain American workers who have seen their skills become obsolete because of technology changes, the bill reforms the way in which the hefty fees for H-1B visas and employment-based green cards are used.∂ The bill, introduced Tuesday by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), promises to make some badly needed reforms that should have happened long ago. Both political parties have supported key elements of them. Yet no progress was made, because Democrats feared that legislation they considered extremely important — the legalization of undocumented workers — would become less of a priority if they agreed to resolve the problems of legal, skilled immigrants. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said as much to me at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on immigration in February 2013.∂ The result of this impasse has been that highly educated and skilled immigrants have become frustrated and returned home; startups in Silicon Valley have been unable to hire the workers they desperately need for building world-changing technologies; and entrepreneurs who want to come to the United States to start their companies and create American jobs have been unable to do so.∂ Why might there be progress now, when all efforts over the past few years have failed? Because after the electoral defeat of Democrats, both sides are eager to show that they can act responsibly and put the needs of the country ahead of partisan politics.∂ Grover Norquist, who is president of Americans for Tax Reform and a powerhouse in the Republican Party, says that the bill will get the support of the vast majority of Republicans: “They need this after six years of telling high tech they really support them but were being held back by the concerns of many Republicans who feared what the Senate might add to any originally targeted bill. Democrats in Congress and Obama need to support this after six years of holding skilled immigrants hostage to a mega deal and telling the business community to wait.” Norquist says that, because the Republicans control both houses, they can ensure consensus and prevent skilled-immigration legislation from being stapled to a larger, more complicated bill. 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