The high barriers facing foreign workers

From technology giants like Microsoft (MSFT) to agricultural employers such as New York State's Torrey Farms, businesses tend to have a pretty straightforward take on immigration policy: If workers from other countries want to come to the US, government should let them in. This is a controversial stance among Americans who fear losing their jobs. But companies say the economy overall will be stronger with more workers, whether they're designing software, milking cows, or performing other tasks that Americans can't or won't do.

Technology companies have pushed for years to let in more skilled workers. The easiest place to start, they say, is by granting green cards for permanent residence to students from overseas who get advanced degrees at US universities, especially in fields such as science, math, and engineering. Today, these students need to apply for residence along with everyone else, and many can't get the papers to stay. "Over half of our PhDs are foreign-born students, and we won't even give them a green card," says William D. Watkins, chief executive of storage equipment maker Seagate Technology (STX). "So we educate them at our universities, which are the best in the world, and then we send them back home. It's crazy."

Tech companies would like to see more experienced workers from overseas, too, both on a temporary and permanent basis. Under the current system, the number of high-skill workers allowed in each year on temporary work visas is capped at 65,000 (with a further 20,000 for those with advanced degrees). Compete America, a lobbying group representing Intel (INTC), Google (GOOG), Oracle (ORCL), and others, wants the cap increased to at least 115,000. Tech companies have many Washington supporters on the issue, but their efforts have been turned back by critics who say the work visa program is subject to misuse and fraud.
Waiting Game

Technology companies also want additional green cards for skilled workers from abroad. The number of so-called "employment-based green cards" is capped at 140,000 per year now, and only 7% of those, or 9,800, can go to workers from any one country. That cap has had the affect of making immigrants from populous countries such as India and China wait five or more years for their green cards, even after the U. S. government decides to approve their applications.

Complete America would like the overall green card cap to be raised and the 7% restriction for each country to be lifted. In addition, the group has asked for green cards that went unused in years past to be reauthorized so they could be issued in the future. This "green-card recapture" would free up 200,000 to 300,000 green cards for current immigrants. James Goodnight, CEO and founder of Cary (N.C.)-based software maker SAS, says the US risks losing talented workers to Canada and Europe if it doesn't adopt more accommodating policies. "They have a policy of welcoming foreign people with PhDs and highly trained workers, whereas for some reason our country doesn't want them anymore," says Goodnight.

Source: EconomicTimes