Wall Street Journal (Opinion)
By Rosario Marin
June 6, 2013
Ms. Marin served in the George W. Bush administration as U.S. treasurer (2001-03) and is the author of "Leading Between Two Worlds: Lessons from the First Mexican-Born Treasurer of the United States (Atria Books, 2007).
I have lived the American dream, which began when I was born in Mexico. My family and I immigrated to the U.S. on my father's work visa when I was 14 years old, and I later served as the 41st treasurer of the United States—the only treasurer born outside of the U.S.
Since its founding, America has grown stronger, and its companies more competitive, by attracting the best and brightest from around the world. So it's a relief to see Congress finally beginning to act on immigration reform.
The key issue is improving mechanisms for legal immigration by people who will contribute to the nation's prosperity. Unfortunately, the compromise bill that emerged from the Judiciary Committee that the Senate intends to take up next week contains provisions that would turn away some of the most highly educated people. Barring them threatens our future economic growth.
The current skilled-labor shortage—particularly for workers in science, technology, engineering and math occupations—puts U.S. companies at a disadvantage. By 2020, an estimated 1.5 million jobs will go unfilled, according to McKinsey & Co. Until America can educate enough graduates in these fields to meet the demand, legal immigration is the only option to find the necessary talent.
The Senate bill makes the current situation worse by placing arbitrary limits and costly regulations on the number of highly skilled immigrants that American businesses can hire through the H-1B and L-1 visa programs. For instance, an H-1B visa application now costs $2,000. Under the new law, it would jump to between $4,000 and $10,000 depending on the number of applications a company files.
A new green card labor-certification fee of $1,000 would hit the thousands of H-1B visa holders wanting to stay in America each year. That's on top of the legal fees of some $1,000-$3,000 already associated with the processes of keeping talented people in the United States. Information-technology consulting companies, such as Accenture ACN -0.04% and IBM, IBM +0.52% would face an additional $500 fee per consultant under the bill.
New regulatory requirements will also make hiring more difficult. Before filing an H-1B petition, all H-1B employers would be required to declare to the Labor Department that they first tried to fill a given position domestically with a 30-day Internet posting. They must further attest that they have offered the position to any equally or better qualified American applicant before filling it with a noncitizen. Companies in which H-1B visa holders make up more than 15% of their workforce would have to promise that they have not displaced a U.S. worker in the 180 days before or after filing an H-1B application.
The Senate bill would also require an annual compliance audit of companies with more than 100 employees if more than 15% of such employees are H-1B holders. To top it off, the companies able to recruit the most talent to the U.S. would be capped from doing so: Companies with 50 or more employees would be prohibited from hiring additional H-1B visa workers if their workforce exceeds 75% of such visa holders in federal fiscal year 2015. That percentage would go down to 50% in 2017.
Supporters say these provisions protect American workers. The truth is that if these restrictions become law, there will be a cascade of unintended economic consequences, and the American consumer would be hit the hardest. This list of new regulations will force leading American companies to manage their businesses in very different ways, and we will have the Senate to thank for the additional costs and off-shoring.
Information-technology departments manage and maintain the backbone of the modern economy. But if the Senate bill passes, companies like Amazon to J.P. Morgan Chase JPM +0.88% would be unable to hire enough people with the know-how to provide the systems and support that ensure day-to-day operations of these major companies function smoothly. Insurers, banks, biotechnology firms, logistics companies and online retailers would all be affected if crucial jobs go unfulfilled.
A recent Bernstein Research report concluded that these ill-advised Senate provisions would compel companies to outsource these jobs overseas or pass the additional costs on to consumers—or both.
The House is taking a different approach to immigration reform, with committees tackling individual components on an ad hoc basis. So far, Congress hasn't addressed the skilled-worker issue. Let's hope its approach doesn't also shut out talented people who might end up working for America's economic competitors in Canada, Europe or China.
It's time to fix America's immigration system—and boost our economy—by opening the door to people capable of strengthening American businesses.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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