Don ’t Ban H-1B Workers: They are Worth Their Weight in Innovation

Alex NowrastehThe Trump Administration is reportedly working on anexecutive order to ban the issuance of new H-1B visas. His order is expected to be issued before the end of this month. His order would be quite a negative blow to the U.S. economy and hit American economic innovation the hardest. The H-1B visa system has problems: It ’s unreasonably costly to change firms, workers are restrained from starting their own firms, and the wait times to adjust their status to a green card are absurdly long. Complete H-1B worker portability between firms, allowing workers to sponsor themselves if they start a firm, andreducing the backlog, as well as other reforms, need to be implemented. But ending the H-1B visa is not the way forward and will hurt American innovation especially.H-1B visas are for highly skilled workers in specialty occupations. They have to make a minimum of $60,000 a year. Annually, 85,000 are available to U.S. firms with an additional uncapped number available for non ‐​profit research institutions, universities, and governments. Many workers who get an H-1B visa start as students in an American university, adjust to an H-1B visa, and eventually earn an employment‐​based green card – but often withobscenely long waits.H-1B workers primarily labor in STEM and computer occupations.H-1B workers have an especially big impact on American innovation. New technology and knowledge allow for more efficient machines and production proce...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs