Twelve Multi-Industry Associations Release Joint Guide to Understanding and Improving the H-1B Visa Program

CONTACTS
Kasey Pipes, Compete America, [email protected]
Ryan Williams, Partnership for a New American Economy, [email protected]
Blair Holmes, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, [email protected]

Washington, D.C. — Compete America, New American Economy, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with nine other multi-industry associations, today released a comprehensive guide, “Understanding and Improving the H-1B Visa Program,” which provides data, arguments, and policy proposals explaining why we need high-skilled immigration reform and why H-1B visas are good for the economy and good for the American workforce. “Understanding and Improving the H-1B Visa Program,” and the accompanying fact sheet, are meant as education tools for policymakers, journalists, and the public, as Congress considers reforming our high-skilled immigration system.

Key Points Covered in the Guide Include:

1. STEM students and workers are an increasingly scarce resource.
2. The H-1B visa program addresses STEM scarcity by creating American jobs and promoting U.S. economic growth.
3. The H-1B process is complicated and costly.
4. There is a vastly insufficient number of visas to meet demand.
5. Companies that participate in the H-1B program aggressively recruit American workers.
6. Involving the Department of Labor in hiring decisions would render the H-1B program unworkable, make it harder for U.S. companies to recruit the talent they need to compete and grow, and hurt American workers.
7. Legislation like the Immigration Innovation Act (“I-Squared”) would improve the H-1B system, boost economic growth, and create American jobs.

See “Understanding and Improving the H-1B Visa Program” here.
See “Facts You Can Use” here.

“The case for high-skilled immigration reform is straightforward, ” said John Feinblatt, Chairman of New American Economy. “Under our current flawed system, we are not only losing out on the world’s best talent, but we are also hindering American job creation and American business growth. We need to pass high-skilled immigration reform now and help ensure sustainable economic prosperity for our future. ”

“While we recognize that people have different opinions on high-skilled immigration, there is only one set of facts,” said Scott Corley, Executive Director of Compete America. “And those facts clearly show that high-skilled immigrants create jobs for Americans and help improve wages for everyone. The facts also clearly show that the high-skilled immigration system is broken and Congress must act to fix it.”

“There currently are insufficient numbers of qualified and available American workers in the STEM fields which undermines the ability of U.S. employers to compete,” said Randy Johnson, the U.S. Chamber’s Senior Vice President of Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits. “It cannot be seriously argued that our existing caps under the H-1B program are realistic in today’s economy. These caps were set in 1990, and our economy has grown since then. We urge Congress to address this issue quickly.”