Lobbying for H-1B Visas

April 24, 2002

As immigration practitioners eagerly performing roles as our clients’ advocates on Capitol Hill, we were dismayed when we entered Congressman Ron Klink’s office for our first meeting of the day and faced a bumper sticker that read, “Give US a Break, Stop Immigration.” From that point on, the day could only improve, and it did.

On March 30, 2000, three members of Cohen & Grigsby’s Immigration Group participated in the “National Lobby Day” activities in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”). This entailed meetings with staff members from the offices of Pennsylvania Congressmen William Coyne, Mike Doyle, Ron Klink, and Frank Mascara, as well as Senator Rick Santorum, to request support on pending H-1B visa bills.

The most significant pieces of legislation are H.R. 3893, introduced by Representatives David Dreier and Zoe Lofgren, and S. 2045, introduced by Senators Orrin Hatch and Spencer Abraham.

These bills are essential to employers who utilize H-1B employees and to the U.S. economy. In fiscal year 2000 Congress allotted 115,000 new H-1B visas, which was effectively reached on March 20, 2000, less than six months into the fiscal year.

H.R. 3893 would increase the number of approved H-1B nonimmigrant visas from 115,000 in 1999 to 200,000 in fiscal years 2001, 2002 and 2003. This bill would also set aside visas—10,000 for employers of higher educational institutions and government/ nonprofit research institutes and 60,000 for individuals who hold master’s or higher degrees (or their equivalents).

S. 2045 would extend the H-1B cap to 195,000 for fiscal years 2000, 2001 and 2002 and exempt from the cap any employees of higher educational institutions and research institutions, as well as foreign students graduating from U.S. schools with master’s or Ph.D. degrees.

Both bills also contain provisions that would eliminate the priority date issue for Chinese and Indian nationals seeking to obtain permanent residence (green cards) in the U.S. Currently, each country has a limited number of immigrant or permanent visas allotted each fiscal year. In the employment-based categories, both China and India utilize the maximum number of visas allowed per year, creating a significant backlog and delay as they wait for the next fiscal year’s allotment. Both bills would eradicate this ongoing problem by allowing other countries’ unused visas for that particular fiscal year to be utilized by Chinese and Indian nationals.

The top priority is changing the public’s perception that hiring H-1B workers results in the displacement of U.S. workers. As employers (particularly those in the information technology industry) are aware, there are simply not enough U.S. workers to fill these “specialty occupation” positions. In fact, Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, recently testified before Congress that worker shortages have “serious implications” for our economy and that, unless a solution is found to this shortage of workers, either inflation will rise or profit margins will be squeezed “with either outcome capable of bringing our growing prosperity to an end.”

After encountering the “Give US a Break, Stop Immigration” bumper sticker during our first meeting, we were understandably apprehensive. While we may not have made much progress with Representative Klink, our other meetings were very productive.

Of specific note is our meeting with Congressman Coyne’s aide. When we explained that some of our clients who conduct business in the Congressman’s district might be forced to send their work overseas due to the lack of H-1B workers, the aide’s attention (and we hope the Congressman’s support) became focused on H.R. 3893.

Our meeting with Senator Santorum’s legislative counsel was also very productive. He listened to each of our concerns and how they impact Cohen & Grigsby clients, the Senator’s constituents and the U.S. economy as a whole. We also discussed a meeting for Senator Santorum and H-1B employers about the implications the cap has on individual businesses and the economy and what can be done.

On the whole, the time was well spent by our Immigration Group at AILA’s National Lobby Day. Our main concern was keeping our clients’ businesses strong and doing our part in contributing to the U.S. economy’s unprecedented growth rate by helping to enable employers to continue to hire sorely needed skilled workers from abroad by utilizing H-1B visas.

For more information, please contact llebowitz@cohenlaw.com, mphillips@cohenlaw.com or rcortazzo@cohenlaw.com.