Breaking Down the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019
Immigration in the United States has been a contentious subject for decades — so much so that, at times, it seems the only thing about immigration people can agree on is that the system is broken. With this in mind, it’s eye-catching when members from both parties agree on a flawed aspect of immigration law and work together to create a solution. One such failing of U.S. immigration policy is the enormous backlog of highly skilled immigrants — mostly from India and China — seeking permanent residency in the U.S. for themselves as well as their spouses and children. It is this backlog that the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, H.R. 1044 aims to rectify.
“Immigration is often a contentious issue, but we should not delay progress in areas where there is bipartisan consensus just because we have differences in other areas.” –Senator Mike Lee
The Green Card Backlog
According to the CATO Institute, since 1991 — when the current quotas limiting the number of immigrants the U.S. will accept from any single country were put in place — the wait times for applicants seeking legal permanent residence through family-sponsored and employment-based categories has doubled, from 2 years and 10 months to 5 years and 8 months. The people most affected by these backlogs are immigrants coming from populous countries with high demand for U.S. visas, most notably India and China. For example, Indians face the longest wait times, on average waiting 8 years and 6 months.
It’s hard to deny the system is flawed; the CATO Institute states that about 675,000 would-be legal immigrants out of the 5-million-person applicant backlog will die without seeing a green card if they refuse to give up and stay in the line indefinitely. Without reform or legislation such as the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, it will take decades to simply process the applicants who have already spent years waiting, never mind the steady stream of current applicants.
Understanding Immigration Quotas
Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah who is sponsoring a companion bill to the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, S. 386) in the Senate with Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California, calls the quotas limiting the number of visas allocated to immigrants from any particular country “rigid, arbitrary, antiquated, outdated” and believes that “immigrants should not be penalized due to their country of origin.”
The fact is the manner in which quotas are constructed puts immigrants seeking legal permanent residency from populous countries at a disadvantage compared to those from smaller countries. Under current law, no more than 7% of the total number of visas can be given to applicants from a single country, which fails to account for the differing populations of countries. For example, India has a population about 2.5 times larger than the European Union (EU) — India is home to over 1.3 billion people, the EU roughly 508 million — yet, the CATO Institute reports the bloc of 28 European nations has access to 78,456 EB-2 visas annually while India only receives 2,879.
Senator Lee believes these backlogs force immigrants, the overwhelming majority of whom are living and working in the U.S., to decide between waiting for a green card in the U.S. (which can take decades) or to “take their talents” to a country with a more streamlined immigration process. Lee proclaims that “this undermines our ability to bring the best and brightest individuals to our country.”
The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act
Co-sponsored by Representatives Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, and Ken Buck, a Republican from Colorado, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, H.R. 1044 has bipartisan support in congress — it passed last week 365–65. At its most basic, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act will remove per-country caps on employment visas and shift the issuance of visas to a first-come, first-serve basis. This change will allow the U.S. to clear the large backlogs facing high-skilled workers, along with their spouses and children, from high-population countries.
Representative Buck states, “It’s time to ease the backlogs and leverage the talent and expertise of our high-skilled immigrants who help strengthen the U.S. economy and fill knowledge gaps in certain fields. These are people who have helped America grow and thrive as a nation of immigrants and we need to make sure our system continues to value those who are following our laws and doing the right thing.”
What the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act Does
Under the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, per-country quotas on employment visas will be phased out over a three-year period. In year one, no more than 85% of allocated employment-based visas may be given to India or China; in years two and three, no more than 90% of employment-based visa may be given to those countries. This transitional period will ensure that immigrants approved for legal permanent residency from countries other than India and China don’t lose their place in line. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act will also raise the per-country cap for family-sponsored immigrant visas from 7% to 15%.
Lastly, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act contains a provision to prevent visas from going unused — allowing all allocated visas to be employed in reducing the green card backlog.
“Our bipartisan bill would phase-in a visa system where the applicant’s nationality is irrelevant, providing relief to individuals who’ve waited patiently for a green card for years, if not decades, while they continue to work and contribute to our economy.” –Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren
Impact of the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act
The primary result of passing the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act will be a significant reduction in backlogs that will enable many highly skilled immigrants to gain permanent residency quicker and easier. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act will also reduce the number of children on H-4 dependent visas waiting to gain residency. This is especially important, as children risk aging out of these visas and getting sent back to their countries of origin.
The downside of this legislation mainly falls upon immigrants seeking permanent residency originating in smaller countries with low visa demand. Under today’s laws, the path to a green card is fairly fast for them; however, if the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act is passed, people capped out under the current system will join them in line.
Who Else Benefits from the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act?
The other major beneficiaries of the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act are applicants from Mexico and the Philippines in the family-sponsored preference visa categories. Raising the family per-country limit from 7% to 15% will allow families who have been waiting for decades to finally reunite. According to the National Immigration Forum, a U.S. citizen sponsoring an unmarried adult child in Mexico is potentially just getting their application processed after a wait of 22 years! Similarly, a U.S. citizen sponsoring a sibling from the Philippines is only now being processed after a 23-year wait!
“In combination with the per-country limits, these backlogs keep nuclear families apart for decades, while preventing U.S. employers from accessing and retaining the employees they need to stay competitive. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act begins to address these problems and makes the immigration system somewhat more rational. It is a small, but good, step forward.” –Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren
GoffWilson Immigration
GoffWilson has solely practiced immigration law for decades, helping thousands of individuals pursue their personal and professional dreams in the U.S. If you have a question about how the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act would affect your status if passed, or any other questions about navigating the complex U.S. immigration system, contact GoffWilson today! Immigration isn’t just what we do, it’s our passion.
