Insights on Immigration: worker visas

Question: The number of visas for foreign workers has not changed in the past several years despite the economic recession and slow recovery in the United States. Should the government adjust (limit or expand) the number of such visas depending on the nation’s unemployment rate?

Ruben Barrales

Ruben Barrales, president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

Answer: No.

Why limit our ability to compete globally and to recruit the best talent from around the world?

The national unemployment rate is an important factor, but it should not be the only determinant for limiting or expanding visas. The national unemployment rate does not reflect individual state or regional unemployment numbers, and it certainly does not present an accurate gauge for industries that need to recruit specific talent.

The system for work visas should be more market-driven, and it should reflect our nation’s need for immigrants with sought-after skills. For example, the H-1B visa cap should be lifted entirely. Our economy relies on innovation. We should remove artificial barriers to economic growth.

Fundamentally, we need to prepare U.S. workers and educate U.S. students. We should be educating and training Americans to fill all job openings in our economy. Yes we must train Americans, but at the same time, we must not limit our ability to grow, recruit and compete globally.

Peter Nunez

Peter Nunez, Former U.S. attorney in San Diego and a board member of the Center for Immigration Studies

Answer: Yes.

Given economic conditions since 2008, the rational approach would be to reduce legal immigration across the board, not just for foreign workers. We admitted 10,501,505 immigrants between 2001 and 2010, including over 1 million every year since 2005, in spite of unacceptably high levels of unemployment. Of those, we issued 148,343 “green cards” to foreign workers, slightly more than in 2009 but lower than the average of 162,531 from 2001-2009. In addition, we experienced a massive increase in temporary non-immigrant workers in 2010 — 2,816,525, compared with 1,703,697 in 2009, and much higher than the 1,646,329 average from 2001 to 2009. Why any country would import so many new immigrants and foreign workers under current economic conditions is beyond reason.

It would be much wiser to encourage employers to hire those already here, rather than relying on cheap, exploitable foreign workers. Furthermore, there are ways to encourage citizens and legal immigrants to study science, math and engineering, if there are real shortages in those fields.

Lilia Velasquez

Lilia Velasquez, immigration attorney and adjunct professor of immigration law at California Western School of Law

Answer: No.

The temporary employment visas should not be based on the unemployment rate but rather on employer labor needs. Yearly, the government allocates 65,000 H-1B visas for professional workers with a bachelor’s degree in specialty occupations and 20,000 visas for those with master’s degrees from U.S. universities. Despite the recession, the 85,000 visas are exhausted before the end of the fiscal year, verifying that employers are unsuccessful in filling jobs with U.S. workers.

As to permanent employment visas, the cap should be increased to meet the labor needs of employers. Typically, an employer wishing to permanently hire a professional worker must first obtain a certification from the U.S. Department of Labor, demonstrating that after extensive recruitment, no willing and able U.S. workers were found. In particular, professional nurses have been in short supply for decades and do not require a labor certification. However, whether a labor certification is required or not, workers must currently wait six years to obtain a visa.


