Category: Immigration

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Scarcity Does Not Create Value: H-1B Visa Reform that Protects American Workers Without Reducing Immigration

A Note by Justin Fernando

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Amidst rising tensions surrounding immigration, the H-1B visa program has found itself under fire from all sides of the political spectrum. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, two businessmen who were tapped to lead the proposed Department of Governmental Efficiency, made headlines towards the end of last year for arguing in favor of the H-1B visa system as a way to bring talented workers to the United States. Senator Bernie Sanders directly opposed these comments, criticizing companies for replacing American workers with lower-paid immigrant workers, going as far as to call these workers “indentured servants.” This debate, while not new, presents a false dichotomy. . . .
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Likely Effects of US immigration Reform on the National Deficit and Social Security System

There has been growing bipartisan efforts in Congress to reform the laws that govern U.S. immigration policy.[i] On June 27, 2013, the U.S. Senate passed “The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” (S. 744).[ii] If this proposed reform becomes law, it will likely help reduce the growing budget deficit and add to economic growth. It is important to not mistake immigration reform with pure amnesty, because a comprehensive or piecemeal reform will address the problem of millions of “illegal” and undocumented immigrants as well as: “specialized programs for agriculture and hi-tech industries, border security and visa‐tracking capabilities, temporary work programs, the future of undocumented adults and children already present in the U.S., systems for employer verification of work eligibility, and other dimensions.”[iii]

 

The U.S. Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”) found that immigration reform will help reduce the federal budget deficit by over … Read the rest