Scrap the Visa Cap?

If you think that the 80,000 recent job losses in the United States will affect the demand for skilled foreign workers who come here on H-1B visas, think again. The Wall Street Journal reported that attorneys who help employers file petitions claim they haven't seen a decline in interest in hiring workers from other countries with a bachelor's degree (at the very least) and specific skills to work for U.S. companies. In fact, demand is expected to continue to far exceed supply.

A lottery was recently held granting 65,000 visas -- the cap mandated by the U.S. government -- that will enable foreign citizens to start working for U.S. employers beginning October 1. The visas' winners were randomly picked from a pool of petitions filed by employers the first five days of April. Last year, applications for H-1B visas were nearly double the cap amount.

But the ranks of these workers may begin to swell: two bills were introduced by legislators to increase the quota of H-1B visas. Bill Gates appeared before Congress to make a case for granting more such visas for specialized workers. Gates' belief, which is shared by many technology companies and economists, is that America can't afford to be so focused on illegal immigration that it prevents the best tech minds from coming here. And, Gates argued, hiring H-1B workers promotes domestic jobs: whenever Microsoft hires an H-1B worker, the company hires an average of four more employees to support them. According to The Journal, major research studies support the notion that hiring H-1B visa workers promotes additional hiring of American workers.

As other industrialized nations ease up their immigration policies to attract skilled workers, and as conditions in developing countries such as India improve, creating highly paid employment opportunities for its citizens, will the United States become a laggard in intellectual capital?

Critics of the current visa cap argue that if Congress thinks it's protecting Americans' jobs by allowing such small numbers of skilled foreign workers into the country, it's only promoting outsourcing. But people who advocate keeping a lid on H-1B visas continue to think they're making America safer. Congress will be dealing with a political hot potato.