Innovation Policy Post

The starting gun for the debate on immigration reform went off with the unveiling of a reform framework by a bipartisan group of eight Senators on January 28, the introduction of the Immigration Innovation (I-Squared) Act on January 29, and the President’s outlining of his own reform plan also on January 29. This past week saw developments further illuminating the prospects for immigration reform with statements from multiple members of Congress at various events. On February 5, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on “America’s Immigration System: Opportunities for Legal Immigration and Enforcement of Laws Against Illegal Immigration”, while House Majority Leader Eric Cantor gave a policy speech at the American Enterprise Institute touching on immigration. On February 7, Senators Bennet, McCain and Klobuchar were interviewed on immigration as part of the Atlantic’s “Manufacturing’s Next Chapter” event. The overall effect was to underscore the broad consensus among lawmakers on the need for skilled immigration reform, even as they disagreed on other aspects.

One of the most striking characteristics of President Obama’s victory last week over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was the level of support the President won from minorities: about 73% of both the Hispanic vote and the Asian American vote.  This has led to calls from prominent Republicans to reexamine the party’s stances on immigration issues.  I believe that the first step should be a clear declaration of support for legal immigration and enactment of the high-skilled immigration bills currently in Congress.  

The American Enterprise Institute’s book forum titled “Better Capitalism: Reviving America’s Entrepreneurial Engine” today featured Robert E. Litan and Carl J. Schramm, the authors of the book “Better Capitalism: Renewing the Entrepreneurial Strength of the American Economy.”  One of the issues discussed was the need to revamp immigration policies for highly skilled immigrants.  

During the second presidential debate last night in New York both President Obama and Governor Romney agreed on the need for immigration reform.

Washington -- The past few weeks have seen welcome action on skilled immigration reform with the introduction of bills such as the Startup Act 2.0, the STAR Act and the SMART Jobs Act.  These bills call for increased access to green cards for foreign graduates of U.S. universities with advanced degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.  The bipartisan support for these bills is a hopeful sign that skilled immigration reform may yet emerge from the cold storage it has been kept in by insistence for comprehensive immigration reform.  

At a Brookings event Monday on high skilled immigration policy, Dr. Jeanne Batalova of the Migration Policy Institute presented her “Brain Waste” study on how many college-educated immigrants are working in unskilled jobs. The study also seemed to point to the importance of employers having a role in the selection of skilled immigrants.