Eric Thomas or Frances Cox 202/822-9491 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 17, 2008

Leaders of U.S. Innovation Economy Send Strong Message to Congress: Enact Critical Reforms for Employment-Based Green Card Program Now

Letter to all Members of Congress Cites Urgency of Reform

Washington D.C. – On behalf of nearly 130 U.S. employers, education institutions and trade associations, Compete America today sent a letter to all Members of the U.S. House of Representatives urging them to enact this year three bills that would make incremental and needed changes to the employment-based (EB) green card system.  U.S. employers in numerous industries, including high tech, finance, health and energy, rely on EB green cards to retain top worldwide talent already working in America.

In the letter they stated:

“America’s scientific and technological leadership is at a crossroads.  To remain the world leader in innovation, U.S. employers must have access to much-needed and sought-after highly educated talent – including scientists, researchers, teachers and medical professionals.  Foreign-born professionals make great contributions to the U.S. economy and create good, high-paying jobs for all Americans.

“U.S. employers rely on EB green cards to keep foreign-born talent living, working and innovating in America.  Yet, despite the critical importance of these visas, Congress has failed to address the well documented backlogs in the EB green card system that leave some foreign-born, highly educated professionals waiting over six to 10 years to receive a permanent resident visa.”
Specifically, the three bills are:

• H.R. 6039: A bill to exempt highly educated, foreign-born students earning an advanced degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from a U.S. university from the annual EB green card limit.  Lead sponsors: Reps. Lofgren and Chris Cannon (R-UT);
• H.R. 5882: A bill to “recapture” employment-based (EB) green cards that Congress authorized in the past but that went unused before the end of the fiscal year because of government processing delays.  Lead sponsors: Reps. Lofgren and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI); and
• H.R. 5921: A bill to eliminate per country limits on EB green card distribution, thus removing artificial bottlenecks for employees from high-demand countries.  Lead sponsors: Reps. Lofgren and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA).

“While permanent reforms for the EB green card system will be critical to U.S. employers’ long-term ability to hire and retain key worldwide talent, H.R. 6039, H.R. 5921 and H.R. 5882 are common sense, incremental reforms that should be enacted this year,” they concluded.

For a copy of the letter, click here. 

For more information on how highly educated immigration benefits America, please visit www.competeamerica.org. 

Compete America (www.competeamerica.org) is 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.

¤ ¤ ¤