Why we need immigration — and immigration reform
The battle lines over immigration extend across a broad front: secure borders, walls, sanctuary cities, “Dreamers,” undocumented workers, and national security are debated with sustained ferocity. But whatever your views, the benefits of one kind of immigration should cause little argument: educated people with advanced skills that are hard to find in the United States and are needed by U.S. companies. This is also an area that could enjoy genuine bipartisan support.
Conversely, policies that would pull up the drawbridge and shut out talent will harm American competitiveness and our ability to create jobs.
For years, American companies have made extensive use of H-1B visas to fill critical skills gaps. Many of those workers later achieve permanent residence through green cards. Large technology companies have been the primary beneficiaries, but many H-1Bs are also used in the health care industry, by midsize companies, and even startups. Through these visas, American companies have attracted some of the world’s best talent.
The visa program has been wildly popular, with its annual cap of 85,000 filled within days. Competition for green cards (permanent residence), which many H-1B holders later apply for, is even more intense, involving waits of up to 10 years.
We need these people and their skills, but the program also needs reform. Some entry-level workers, while qualified, don’t have extraordinary skills. Many are paid less than comparable U.S. workers: $65,000 versus $130,000 for an engineer in Silicon Valley. And playing cost arbitrage, some employers have used visa holders to replace U.S. workers. That’s not what the program was created for.
Going forward, it should refocus on what it was designed to do: help U.S. companies attract global talent, supplementing but not replacing qualified American workers. Some companies that previously relied solely on “offshoring” information technology work have adopted new approaches that focus on growing information-technology talent in the United States. Infosys, for example, plans to create 10,000 “net new jobs” in the United States, building an American talent pool through partnerships with academic institutions. Behind this new model are U.S. companies that want more local hires. This takes us in the right direction.
But the Trump administration isn’t waiting. Under President Trump’s “hire American, buy American” executive order, the federal government is intensifying the review of H-1B applications, and limiting extensions (which are granted for up to four years, usually while visa holders wait for green cards). A related regulatory change would rescind the ability of spouses of H-1B holders to work. Yet another change affecting skilled immigration could come if the Trump administration terminates the International Entrepreneur Rule, an Obama-era regulation that lets foreign entrepreneurs who found companies extend their stay in the United States. These are regulatory changes, however, and the program’s future is ultimately up to congressional lawmakers.
Any high-skill-visa reform should include these goals:
Continue the H-1B program and allow its numerical cap to float to meet demand.
Support the existing 20,000 set-aside under the cap for holders of advanced degrees from U.S. universities.
Give visa holders the freedom to move between employers, and spouses the ability to work.
Ensure that applicants bring highquality, hard-to-find skills that meet demonstrated needs.
Contain costs and administrative complexity for applicants.
Provide stronger protections for American workers to preclude their displacement.
Support STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and retraining for U.S. workers.
Phase in changes, to limit disruption for workers and businesses.
Help retain long-term talent by increasing the number of employmentbased green cards.
Create an entrepreneur visa for immigrant entrepreneurs who want to start U.S. companies.
Bills on skilled immigration are pending in the House and Senate, and a new bill by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called the Immigration Innovation Act of 2018, was introduced last month. Though not perfect, it’s the best by far and achieves these objectives in a balanced way. Congressional representatives from both parties should support it.
How we manage skilled immigration matters. In contrast to aging countries like Japan that have slow growth but severely limited immigration, much of our economic strength is linked to immigration. According to the Kauffman Foundation, immigrant entrepreneurs are twice as likely to start businesses as native-born Americans; more than half of America’s billion-dollar startups have an immigrant co-founder; and 16 percent of the U.S. college-educated population is foreign born. The nonpartisan Center for American Entrepreneurship finds that 43 percent of companies in the Fortune 500 were founded or co-founded by an immigrant or the child of an immigrant; for the top 35 companies, the share is 35 percent. These companies aren’t just in tech centers like the Bay Area, but are found in cities and states across the country.
Retaining and reforming the H-1B visa program will support employment and help us keep our edge. And welcoming international entrepreneurs who create those jobs will take us into the future. Silicon Valley companies have much to gain, but so does the country. This should be a priority for the president and both parties.
Sean Randolph is senior director at the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.