CEA Praises Introduction of Revived Senate Bill on Immigration Reform for High-Skilled

CEA hails introduction of revived Senate legislation to reform immigration for the high-skilled, President Gary Shapiro said in a statement Tuesday. The Immigration Innovation (I-Squared) Act of 2015, introduced Tuesday by Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Chris Coons, D-Del.; Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., “is a long overdue step toward addressing our nation’s shortage of high-skilled workers,” Shapiro said. “Not only does it increase the number of H-1B Visas, it also allows for an increase depending on the demands of the marketplace. The legislation also makes important upgrades to the student visa program and allows for the recapture of unused green cards.” Immigrants account for a quarter of technology startups and jobs created in the U.S., Shapiro said. “It is imperative that we encourage the best and brightest from around the world to stay here, instead of pushing them to the back of the line and incentivizing them to innovate and create jobs abroad.” There’s a real shot in the new Congress at enacting immigration reform for the high-skilled because President Barack Obama and Republicans and Democrats “agree on the parameters," Shapiro told us the morning after the Republicans’ sweep in the midterm elections (see [Ref:1411050022). "Everyone agrees we need highly skilled immigration reform," when 70 percent of those earning post-graduate engineering and math degrees are from foreign countries, "and we’re kicking them out," he said then. "It’s not the wisest policy."