Civic Register
| 12.4.18

Does the U.S. Need to Eliminate Per-Country Caps on Employment Visas?

Vote to see how others feel about this issue

What’s the story?

  • A GOP-run amendment in the House’s 2019 draft budget plan for the Department of Homeland Security would put 300,000 Indian temporary workers and their family members on the fast-track to citizenship.
  • DHS opposes the business-backed amendment.
“It is important that Congress does due diligence on any proposed sweeping change to our immigration system,” a DHS official told Breitbart News. “The bottom line is Congress needs to ensure what they are passing is in the best interests of the American people.”
  • A group of American professionals flew a banner around D.C. last week, urging GOP Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to drop the amendment:

What’s in the amendment?

H.R. 392, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, first introduced in 2017, had 300 co-sponsors. The bill is now championed by outgoing Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS), who added it as an amendment to the spending package as a fair-minded fix to “country caps.”

  • The “Yoder amendment” would offer fast-track citizenship to 300,000 Indian college graduate contract workers and 300,000 of their family members as well as 50,000 Chinese visa workers.
  • The amendment would also enable U.S. and Indian outsourcing companies to import additional contract workers from India.
  • “Individuals from countries other than India and China who are not eligible for H-1Bs (such as some L-1B employees) may no longer be able to remain in the United States long enough to get green cards,” The National Law Review wrote.

Why 600,000 Indians?

“The green card waiting room is filled with Indian contract workers because many brand-name U.S. companies have created a huge, complex, profitable, and hidden outsourcing business with Indian companies such as Tata or Cognizant,” Breitbart explained.

What do you think?

Does the U.S. need to eliminate per-country caps on employment visas? Take action above, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: @Dawnnewyorker via Twitter)