Legislation

Reform of Immigration Rules Related to America’s Workforce

The Issue

Our visa quotas for immigrant workers and professionals have not been substantively changed since 1990—the last time the immigration admission system was overhauled. In that time, our economy has grown, as has our need for immigrants with special skills to fill gaps in our labor force. Now, some immigrants being sponsored by U.S. employers may have to wait months or years for a visa to become available. The number of employment-based immigration visas should adjust to bring it more in line with current demand.

Some sectors of our economy have a different problem. They are very dependent on workers who are not authorized to work here, and for whom there are no legal avenues to adjust their immigration status so they can work legally. For example from 50 to 75 percent of the agricultural workforce is undocumented. Farmers across the country don’t want to see their best workers taken away from them, but whether these workers are given the legal authorization to work will depend on action by Congress.

Congress must do more to ensure that Americans have opportunities to acquire the education and training needed in today’s economy. At the same time, it must update the employment-based visa system to ensure America remains competitive in a world where countries vie for valuable workers. While Congress has failed to tackle comprehensive reform of the immigration system, there is legislation being considered that would fix parts of our broken employment-based immigration laws.

Legislation

Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2011
H.R. 3012, introduced in the House by Rep Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). Immigrants coming to the U.S. through employer sponsorship are limited to 140,000 per year. In addition, there is a limit of visas provided to immigrants from any one country of seven percent of the total family and employment preference numbers. Immigrants coming from some countries (China and India), are put in the backlog, because their numbers exceed the seven percent per-country limit. This bill would eliminate the per-country ceiling for employment-based visas, and it would lift the cap for family-based immigrants from seven percent to 15 percent. The effect would be to allow more of those who have been waiting in line longest to obtain their visas, while spreading the backlog out more evenly. (List of co-sponsors.)



• Agricultural Jobs Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act (AgJOBS)
  In the 112th congress there has yet to be an AgJobs Bill introduced as standalone legislation. However Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill, S. 1258, and within this bill there is the language of the AgJOBS Bill from the 111th Congress.

• Press Release: Chaffetz Introduces Immigration Bill, Representative Jason Chaffetz, September 23, 2011.


• Press Release: Lofgren Statement on Passage of Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants bill, Representative Zoe Lofgren, November 29, 2011.


• Issue Brief: America’s Immigration System Undermines Competitiveness, National Immigration Forum, November 2011.

Issue Briefs and Reports from the Forum

Additional Resources