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House Passes Stevens-Backed Bill to Eliminate Per-Country Limits on Employment-Based Visas

July 10, 2019

WASHINGTON – Today, the House of Representatives passed, with overwhelming bipartisan support, H.R. 1044, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, a bipartisan bill to remove the arbitrary per-country limits in the employment-based green card system. Congresswoman Stevens became an early cosponsor of this legislation after a group of constituents brought the bill to her attention during a town hall meeting in February.

Of the approximately 140,000 employment-based green cards that the U.S. makes available each year to high-skilled immigrants, only seven percent can go to immigrants from any one country. This arbitrary cap disproportionally impacts countries with larger populations that meet their caps much faster than countries with small populations, and results in significant wait times – up to 70 years in some cases. To ensure true fairness, high-skilled visas should be given to those based on a first-come-first-serve and merit based system, regardless of their country of origin. Addressing this long-overdue solution will have dramatically positive impacts on our innovation sectors in Southeast Michigan and America’s competitiveness in the global economy.

“At a town hall meeting earlier this year, I met a group of concerned constituents who have lived in this country for decades, but have been unable to fully put their skills and education to use in our local economy because of the backlog of high-skilled immigrants from countries with large populations,” said Congresswoman Haley Stevens. “One man, an immigrant from India, was told that he would have to wait 70 years for a visa. This per-country limit locks talented individuals out of our economy, hurts employers, and hampers our ability to innovate. Without a doubt, our immigration system is broken, and bipartisan reforms like the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act are an important step toward strengthening our economy and creating a more fair system. Congress must continue working to fix our broken immigration system by securing our borders and formalizing a path to citizenship for those living, working, and paying taxes in the U.S., and even serving in our military. This legislation is good for our economy and a good first step of many to fixing our broken immigration system. I urge the Senate to take up this legislation soon.”

The text of the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act can be found HERE.

 

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