Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced S. 153 on Tuesday that would expand the number of H-1B guest worker visas for the tech industry regardless of the fact that there is a surplus of American high-tech workers. Along with Sen. Hatch, the Immigration Innovation (“I-Squared”) bill was co-sponsored by Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
The bill would enable companies to hire an unlimited number of workers with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), which has the potential to turn some universities into diploma factories for foreign students. Currently, the first 20,000 H-1B applications for those with advanced STEM degrees are exempted.
In addition to dramatically increasing H-1B visa cap from 65,000 to a shifting cap of 115,000 to 300,000, the cap would adjust upwards if visas run out prior to the end of the year, or shift downward if too many visas are allocated the previous year. The actual number would increase even more significantly due to the fact that spouses and children of H-1B holders, STEM graduates, certain aliens with extraordinary ability, and outstanding professors and researches are added to the list of individuals not subject to the numerical cap. Further, unused employment-based visas would carry over to the following year(s) and spouses of H-1B and L-Visa holders receive employment authorization when they arrive in the U.S.
However, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) counters the need for more STEM guest workers in his Immigration Handbook for the New Republican Majority memo. In it, Sen. Sessions points out that “a stunning 3 in 4 Americans with a STEM degree do not hold a job in a STEM field—that’s a pool of more than 11 million Americans with STEM qualifications who lack STEM employment.” In a chapter titled, “The Silicon Valley STEM Hoax,” Sen. Sessions cites Rutgers public policy professor Hal Salzman, who has calculated that 100% of new hires in the tech industry could be guest workers if Congress continues to increase the number of H-1B visas, which would hold “down wages for both them and new hires.”
“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,” Senator Sessions wrote to lawmakers. “Who do we work for?”
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers also weighed in in opposition of the S. 153.
"There are simply no arguments for H-1B increases that aren't better made for green cards," said Russ Harrison, IEEE-USA government relations director, in a statement. "The primary, practical function of the H-1B program is to outsource American high-tech jobs. Do the bill's supporters really think that's the direction American immigration policy should go?"
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