The Competitive Enterprise Institute supports more freedom and less bureaucracy for temporary foreign workers who are not U.S. citizens. Opponents are not convinced.
H-1B
visa policy as currently run by the United States Customs and Immigration
Services is under attack from all sides.
An
October advocacy paper by a conservative-leaning think tank calls for
abolishing time restrictions, lowering or eliminating most of the fees, ridding
company sponsors and removing most if not all of the bureaucracy involved in
obtaining an H-1B visa. The Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Competitive
Enterprise Institute (CEI)-which has been known
to deny the damages and effects of climate change-contends H-1B visa holders
greatly benefit companies that employ them and help raise the wages of American
workers, and the group shuns the idea that H-1B visa holders take jobs away
from natural born talent.
"Hiring
H-1B workers in information technology is highly correlated with increased
employment of Americans, higher wages for American workers, and lower rates of
unemployment," wrote Alex Nowrasteh, researcher at CEI in
the paper. "Each H-1B
position requested by a technology firm with fewer than 5,000 employees was
associated with an increase of employment of 7.5 workers."
CEI also refers to the number of foreign-born
workers associated with patents, the percentage of entrepreneurs who were
foreign born (roughly 25 percent of technology companies) and the lack of
hiring of H-1B visa holders during recessions.
"Highly
skilled foreign workers' contributions to science and technology, high rates of
education, low rates of crime, net contribution in tax revenue, and positive
effect on the wages and productivity of American workers are all reasons to
remove restrictions on highly skilled foreigners immigrating to the U.S.," wrote Nowrasteh.
"Restricting the flow of highly skilled foreigners to the U.S. would hurt our economy.
Entry barriers faced by foreign-born, highly skilled workers should be
significantly eased."
Opponents
of the H-1B visa program contend there are major labor abuses and wage-related
problems with the program, including the displacement of American workers.
Associate Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology Ron Hira further
believes H-1B visas give unfair advantage to offshore outsourcing companies
looking to use less expensive foreign workers to do the same job as qualified U.S. workers.
"The
goals of the H-1B and L visa programs have been to bring in foreign workers who
complement the U.S. workforce," wrote Hira in the
October report "The H-1B and
L-1 Visa Programs:
Out of Control" on behalf of liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute. "Instead,
loopholes in both programs have made it too easy to bring in cheaper foreign
workers, with ordinary skills, who directly
substitute for, rather than
complement, workers already in the country. They are clearly displacing and
denying opportunities to U.S. workers."
CEI supports the elimination of the annual caps on
the number of H-1B visa holders currently set at 85,000 per year. The
organization also supports a major change in the program from these visas
having temporary status: CEI wants H-1B visas
holders to have an unlimited timeframe in the United States as long as they do not
commit a felony. In a similar vein, CEI advocates for the
complete elimination of company sponsorships.
"Restrictions
on the entry of highly skilled immigrants hinder the growth of certain
industries, reduce economic growth and slow technological development,"
Nowrasteh said. "The government cannot pick winners among highly skilled
immigrants before they enter the country, so the number of allowed entries
should be as great as possible, the requirements for entry as low as possible,
and the burdens eliminated to the greatest extent possible."
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