The national grassroots group Immigration Voice today praised the House of Representatives upon passage of the bill, H.R.3012, the “Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act.” The House of Representatives approved the bill, sponsored by Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 389 to 15 this evening.
The legislation would phase out existing quotas on the number of employment-based visas that may be awarded to legal immigrants from a single country. Current law limits any one country to 7% of employment-based permanent resident visas, causing enormous backlogs for legal immigrants from certain countries that provide America with large numbers of skilled immigrants. The bill also adjusts upward the per-country caps for family-based visas from 7% to 15%. The legislation would not increase the number of immigrants allowed into the United States, nor would it provide any additional green cards to skilled workers.
“This is a great day for all who are interested in making common-sense fixes to America’s immigration system, and it’s particularly a great day for all those skilled immigrants and their families who have been stuck in the green card backlog for years,” said Aman Kapoor, President of Immigration Voice. “Legal, employment-based immigrants shouldn’t be left waiting in bureaucratic limbo for decades. The current system hampers America’s competitiveness and places extreme burdens on thousands of legal immigrants and their families. We are particularly gratified that H.R.3012 was supported by such a diverse range of thoughtful legislators from both sides of the aisle, and we urge the Senate to pass this modest but important legislation without delay.”
Find out more about Immigration Voice and the green card backlog at www.immigrationvoice.org.
