Source-Forbes-
If Congress fails to pass new legislation, some of the most highly skilled professionals in America will be forced to leave the country or wait decades for employment-based green cards. How did America become mired in such a mess and what can be done to fix the problem?
The Origins of the Problem
Back in 1990, when the Immigration Act of 1990 was passed, Congress had a chance to secure America’s future as a magnet for top talent from all over the world. It failed in this mission.
First, Congress changed the existing H-1 temporary visa category to H-1B, added new requirements and set an annual limit of 65,000. Employers reached this limit within 6 years – and have also reached it every year for the past 16 fiscal years, encouraging companies to place more workers outside the U.S.
Second, Congress set an annual limit of 140,000 on employment-based green cards (for permanent residence). More than 20,000 of the green cards each year are devoted to immigrant investors, workers for jobs that don’t require a college degree, religious workers and others. More importantly, dependents (spouses and children) count against the 140,000 annual limit, accounting for about half of the total each year.
Third, the Immigration Act of 1990 unwisely retained per-country limits on employment-based immigrants. This continues to make no sense. It would be discrimination if a company said it will only hire a certain number of people of Chinese origin this year, yet collectively U.S. employers are only allowed to gain permanent residence for a limited number of people from any one country. Companies should not care where a person was born and neither should Congress. Read more