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发帖数: 447 | 1 House Prepares to Move STEM Immigration Reform
by Jeffrey Mervis on 11 October 2011, 4:00 PM | 3 Comments
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Congress could be inching closer to allowing more high-skilled foreign
workers to remain in the country. The change in U.S. immigration law
would
be a huge victory for a popular idea that has been battered by the sharp
political in-fighting over the broader question of illegal immigration.
Heartened by the tenor of a House of Representatives' hearing last week
on
the topic, advocates see growing support in Congress for giving
permanent
residency status—commonly known as a green card—to foreign-born students
who have earned graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering,
and
mathematics (STEM) fields. The students would need to have attended
reputable U.S. institutions and have a job offer that pays the
prevailing
wage. High-tech entrepreneurs who start companies that hire U.S. workers
and
become successful would also be eligible for green cards. The changes
are
aimed at keeping talented STEM professionals from going back to their
home
countries and competing against U.S. firms.
Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), who is chair of the House Judiciary
Committee, has been the main stumbling block to any major reform
affecting
STEM professionals. Despite White House support for the idea, reform
bills
introduced this year by both Democrats and Republicans have languished
because of his opposition. Smith appears most concerned about the
unintended
consequences of expanding the pool of legal immigrants. He has
questioned
whether the benefits should extend to those with masters' degrees as
well as
doctoral recipients, and the definition of which fields should be
eligible
for such favored treatment. He also worries about opening the door to
fly-by
-night institutions enrolling students who are more interested in
obtaining
a green card than pursuing a career as a scientist or engineer.
But Smith is said to be close to resolving his concerns. At the 5
October
hearing he asked the four witnesses for yes or no answers to five
pointed
questions relating to these issues. Despite their different perspectives
on
the value of more STEM-trained immigrants, all favored some version of
the
reforms being debated. And those in attendance are guessing that the
answers
Smith received will eventually be folded into legislation.
Smith won't disclose his plans. But a committee staff member says that
he "
is considering a few proposals. Last week's hearing by the Judiciary
Committee's immigration panel, the staffer adds, "shows that [the topic]
is
on his radar." Advocates expect him to either introduce his own bill or
throw his considerable weight behind one of several pieces of
legislation
with similar goals.
"He has expressed support for a STEM bill, and told us that it could
happen
this year," says Russell Harrison, a lobbyist for IEEE-USA, the public
policy arm of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. "If
he
introduces his own bill, the odds of its passage would be very good."
One of those proposals, expected to be introduced as soon as today,
comes
from Representative Raúl Labrador (R-ID). A former immigration attorney
who
grew up in Puerto Rico, Labrador is not a member of the Judiciary
Committee
, which has jurisdiction over the topic. But Labrador has been working
with
another freshman legislator, Representative Tim Griffin (R-AR), who
chaired
last week's hearing and is preparing his own bill.
Labrador's bill contains several of the safeguards that Smith believes
are
essential, including asking the National Science Foundation to certify
the
research quality of the eligible institution. It would also give NSF
control
of 87% of the money generated by a $2000-per-person fee collected from
companies seeking to hire such graduates. The fees would support college
scholarships for U.S. students in STEM fields, improvements in
elementary
and secondary school STEM education, and research on enhancing
undergraduate
STEM education at minority-serving institutions.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of Labrador's bill is its extensive
overlap with another bill, HR 2161, that was introduced in June by
Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). Lofgren's bill is given no chance of
passage because she is a member of the minority party in the House. But
that
doesn't mean its contents aren't important. As Lofgren, a long-time
champion of STEM immigration reform, noted during last week's hearing,
"as I
heard Mr. Smith ask his questions, I said to myself: 'Yes, that is
already
in my bill.' "
However, lobbyists don't expect Labrador's bill to be the one that
emerges
from the pack. And it's an open question whether Smith will seek
Democratic
co-sponsors if and when he does endorse a bill.
(According to those who follow the STEM immigration debate closely,
Lofgren
wanted to co-sponsor a much narrower bill introduced last month by
Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) that would lift the current ceiling
limiting the number of immigrants according to their country of origin.
The
Chaffetz bill, HR 3012, would benefit information technology companies
trying to retain Indian software engineers who now face a 70-year wait
for a
green card. But Smith nixed the offer as payback for Lofgren's
opposition
to Smith's attempt to toughen E-Verify, a system for employers to weed
out
illegal aliens.)
"[House Republicans] may need to create their own bill, with only
Republican
sponsors," says Amy Scott of the Association of American Universities,
a
member of the pro-reform COMPETE America coalition. "But I would hope
that [
Lofgren] would help move the bill forward, even if she's not a sponsor." | l*****d
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