04/09/2018
“Study after study has shown that foreign-born workers are good for the U.S. economy and good for U.S.-born workers. When companies are allowed to hire the workers with the best skills for the job — regardless of where those workers happen to have been born — their increased competitiveness boosts all the industries around them.” (Editorial, “Trump takes a broken immigration system and makes it worse,” San Francisco Chronicle, 4/2/18)
“There is not a fixed number of jobs in the United States. When immigrants fill jobs, they create more jobs through their consumer spending, investments and entrepreneurship. Their availability as workers can encourage additional investments.” (Stuart Anderson, “Better Immigration Policies Would Help U.S. Tech Companies,” Forbes, 4/2/18)
“The reason H-1B visas run out each year is simple: The small annual limit of 65,000 (for an economy with over 160 million workers) was set back in 1990. Since then the World Wide Web, social media, smartphones, 3-D printing, and advances in biotech and other fields have fueled the demand for high-skilled technical labor. Most H-1B visa holders have earned a master’s degree or higher.” (Stuart Anderson, “Better Immigration Policies Would Help U.S. Tech Companies,” Forbes, 4/2/18)
“‘When Congress set some of these numbers on H-1Bs and green cards, there was just no way for them to know that there would be this tremendous explosion in demand for high-skilled labor,’ he said. ‘And (local) universities are only putting out a limited number of native-born individuals with these skills.’” (Trisha Thadani and Annie Ma, “H-1B visas by the numbers: Silicon Valley versus Indian outsourcing companies,” San Francisco Chronicle, 3/31/18)
“We are facing a critical shortage of skilled labor in America…. In some Rust Belt states, there are as many as 15 science, tech, engineering and math-related job postings for every unemployed STEM worker, according to a new report by New American Economy, a coalition of business leaders and mayors working toward immigration reform.” (Richard Burke, “An immigration bill you’ve never heard of will solve US’s labor shortage,” CNN, 3/27/18)