Business leaders asked a congressional subcommittee on Thursday to clear some of the red tape required to get H-1B visas. This request was countered by testimony from an academic saying the H-1B visa program encourages employers to hire cheaper foreign labor with ordinary skills who take away jobs from Americans.
Most agreed the program needs immediate reform. In addition, statements issued in anticipation of the hearing before a House Judiciary Committee subcommittee showed some unusual progress in closing the gap between the traditional pro-business side that wants access to more foreign workers and the pro-labor side that says rampant abuse of the visa system has unfairly lowered wages.
Specifically, the IEEE-USA sent in their lobbyist, Bruce Morrison, to argue for easier access to green cards. Morrison said that something needs to be done to stop the exodus of foreign-born students after they earn degrees at U.S. universities in the fields of science, technology, engineering or math (STEM). He argued that Congress needs to roll out the "welcome mat" to STEM students with both visas and green cards, making it easier for U.S. companies to hire them.
"American technology firms need their skills for the research and product development that they are doing in the U.S. They need to draw from the full pool of U.S.-educated graduates, not just the minority that are already Americans. If this talent pool is not available here, American firms will move jobs to where they can access the talent they need. When they do that, it is not just the foreign born who leave. Along with them go multiples of jobs now held by Americans," Morrison testified.
That's unusual rhetoric coming from the pro-labor organization. The IEEE-USA supports the careers of more than 210,000 engineering, computing and technology professionals and students. Morrison is a past chairman of this subcommittee and co-author of the Immigration Act of 1990 that created the H-1B program. He has been outspoken against its use to displace American workers.