Dear U.S. citizens and immigrants,
We are writing to bring the US Senate bill 386 (and its House version H.R.1044) to your attention. This bill, if enacted into law, will generate dire consequences on U.S. immigration, U.S. competency, and the diversity we once take pride on.
The bill, titled “Fairness for High-skilled Immigrants”, aims to eliminate the 7% per-country annual quota on the current employment-based immigration system. The bill has passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support. While supporters say it is fair because it helps Indian and Chinese nationals eliminate their backlogs and accept high-skilled immigrants on a first-come-first-serve basis, this claim is deceptive in nature.
More people around the world are stuck in the Green Card backlog than the number of GCs issued. This bill will only shift the burden from one group of foreign workers to all the other groups. In the short run, only one ethnic group will take most of the green cards; In the long run, every potential immigrant will be kept in an ever-growing green card backlog.
Furthermore, this bill will make things worse, since it does nothing to address the cause of the massive backlog consisting mainly of Indian nationals. In the past decade, outsourcing firms have systematically abused temporary work visas to import workers with below-average wages into the US. This has resulted in ~70% annual H1B visas given to foreigners from one single country. The solution should be not limited to tighter examination of H1B applications. By removing the per-country cap, the bill allows workers contracted to outsourcing companies to crowd out high-skilled workers who have degrees from American universities.
Since the vast majority of Indian H1B holders are male workers from the tech industry, this bill will damage gender diversity in the workplace, as well as dramatically reduce the number of immigrants from industries other than Information Technology.
Also, we believe this bill would potentially harm the DACA candidates and TPS recipients. If these programs are ended, those DACA recipients who have been waiting for a transition to employment-based visas would have to leave the country and wait for green cards outside the United States for more than a decade.
In short, this bill fixes NOTHING and creates more problems than it claims to solve. It may also bring about humanitarian issues like family separation.
Many organizations and institutions from a variety of backgrounds have openly expressed their opposition against S.386/H.R.1044, including but not limited to: American Hospital Association, Nigerian-American Multi-Services Association, National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, and so forth. Several key senators also show their concern. In particular, we thank Senator Dick Durbin for his inspiring speech in the Constituent Coffee event on September 26 in the Senate building. His nuanced understanding and thoughtfulness for immigration echo to both our heart and head.
Sen. Durbin at the Constituent Coffee event, September 26 2019Based on all the facts and reasons stated above, we ask American citizens and immigrants to pay attention to S.386/H.R.1044 and ask your senators to stop supporting this bill/oppose this bill. We will stand together with you, and keep fighting towards a comprehensive immigration reform that works for everyone, instead of any privileged groups.
United Immigrants Network
2019-10-06
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