State Biz Takes Lead on Immigration Reform
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It's the pursuit of innovation, a competitive edge and healthy profit margins that have pushed many California companies into the immigration reform fight. Advocates for amnesty and a fair system should take notes from a business alliance that sees California's economic vitality linked to a workforce with immigrants.
Google, Oracle and Sun Microsystems are among many California businesses that have formed Compete America, a group which advocates for immigration reform by sharply increasing the federal allotment of H-1B visas that allow foreign-born prospects to work legally in the United States.
Compete America bills itself as a coalition of corporations, educators, research institutions and trade associations concerned about legal, employment-based immigration and committed to ensuring that the United States has the highly educated workforce necessary to ensure continued innovation, job creation and leadership in a worldwide economy.
Contrary to President Bush's belief that immigrants take jobs that Americans don't want to do, the computer science heavy business alliance would have you believe that there simply is not a deep enough talent pool of high-tech professionals from the ranks of the U.S. citizenry. Not enough to the fill the jobs they offer anyway, therefore they need to recruit immigrants who largely attend U.S. universities.
Problem for them and by extension, our economy is that federal immigration law only allows 65,000 H-1B visas per year. According to trade publication, Business Facilities, the H-1B visa cap of 65,000 stops many would-be workers from coming to, or remaining in, America.
It also reports that:
These numbers are startling, why are we denying so many folks the American Dream? Clearly there is room for improvement of the H-1B visa program. I for one believe it should be expanded to a number in the hundreds of thousands for workers in many professions in order to implement a working legal immigration system.
According to Compete America, the H-1B visa program does not adversely affect Americans because companies hiring immigrant workers through the program must meet prevailing wage standards for that position and publicize position openings throughout its domestic workforce among other fees payable to immigration officials associated with the program.
Clearly they don't save much money hiring non-U.S. citizens.
Business Facilities also reports the work of California based companies toward the reform effort:
Governor Schwarzenegger has been onboard with these efforts as he struggles to keep the growing sectors of our economy strong. Congress should take note that both Canada and the European Union are taking actions to attract immigrant workers who cannot take the job openings here in California because of our broken immigration system.
We all should support the actions of Silicon Valley led Compete America and ask for their solidarity for comprehensive reform. California amnesty advocates should use Compete America as an example of how to gain public support by looking for concrete ways to introduce a legal immigration system we all can live with. As California goes, so goes the nation.
If we do not act together, the Yacht Party Republicans will continue their assault on immigrants here in California by erroneously blaming them for our budget crisis. The robustness of our state's economy is as stake.
Google, Oracle and Sun Microsystems are among many California businesses that have formed Compete America, a group which advocates for immigration reform by sharply increasing the federal allotment of H-1B visas that allow foreign-born prospects to work legally in the United States.
Compete America bills itself as a coalition of corporations, educators, research institutions and trade associations concerned about legal, employment-based immigration and committed to ensuring that the United States has the highly educated workforce necessary to ensure continued innovation, job creation and leadership in a worldwide economy.
Contrary to President Bush's belief that immigrants take jobs that Americans don't want to do, the computer science heavy business alliance would have you believe that there simply is not a deep enough talent pool of high-tech professionals from the ranks of the U.S. citizenry. Not enough to the fill the jobs they offer anyway, therefore they need to recruit immigrants who largely attend U.S. universities.
Problem for them and by extension, our economy is that federal immigration law only allows 65,000 H-1B visas per year. According to trade publication, Business Facilities, the H-1B visa cap of 65,000 stops many would-be workers from coming to, or remaining in, America.
It also reports that:
- Last April, more than 133,000 H-1B visa applications were submitted on the first day of availability, resulting in a lottery system to determine who would receive them.
- There has also been a sustained backlog of employment-based green cards that allow individuals to remain in the U.S. permanently. As a result, many professionals wait more than five years to receive a green card. The length of the process prompts many of these workers to give up and return to their native countries.
These numbers are startling, why are we denying so many folks the American Dream? Clearly there is room for improvement of the H-1B visa program. I for one believe it should be expanded to a number in the hundreds of thousands for workers in many professions in order to implement a working legal immigration system.
According to Compete America, the H-1B visa program does not adversely affect Americans because companies hiring immigrant workers through the program must meet prevailing wage standards for that position and publicize position openings throughout its domestic workforce among other fees payable to immigration officials associated with the program.
Clearly they don't save much money hiring non-U.S. citizens.
Business Facilities also reports the work of California based companies toward the reform effort:
- Laszlo Bock, vice president of people operations at Google, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration last year about the practical impact that the U.S. immigration system has on the firm, which is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. Bock testified that, due to limits on the number of H-1B visas, Google is regularly unable to pursue highly qualified candidates. Over the last year, the cap on H-1B visas prevented more than 70 Google candidates from being hired, according to Bock.
- In December, the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored, public policy advocacy organization, wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the failure to revamp immigration laws is inhibiting key Bay Area industries including agriculture, high technology, and healthcare from recruiting and retaining essential workers needed to advance the region's economic growth. The council states that if its nine-county region is to continue to be a global leader in innovation, immediate reform to the H-1B program is needed.
Governor Schwarzenegger has been onboard with these efforts as he struggles to keep the growing sectors of our economy strong. Congress should take note that both Canada and the European Union are taking actions to attract immigrant workers who cannot take the job openings here in California because of our broken immigration system.
We all should support the actions of Silicon Valley led Compete America and ask for their solidarity for comprehensive reform. California amnesty advocates should use Compete America as an example of how to gain public support by looking for concrete ways to introduce a legal immigration system we all can live with. As California goes, so goes the nation.
If we do not act together, the Yacht Party Republicans will continue their assault on immigrants here in California by erroneously blaming them for our budget crisis. The robustness of our state's economy is as stake.