Yesterday, a Republican-sponsored bill on the floor of the US House of Representatives was voted down. This is nothing new, especially in the current, highly partisan political landscape. However, the reason this bill is of note is that both sides of the isle have spoken out about their support of the effort and the essential nature of its theme: enabling international students with advanced degrees in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to more readily earn their green card and remain in the US as members of the high-technology workforce.
I have chosen to write about this specific case for two reasons, first it is an effort I see as important, and second because it is a prime example of politics getting in the way of governance. Yesterday, two bills existed in the House regarding this piece of policy, one written by a Democrat and another written by a Republican. Today, one bill is defeated, and the other not likely to see the light of day until next year. The feature that distinguishes the two bills is how a new group of green cards for these STEM graduates would fit in with the annual immigration allowance. Republicans believe we must continue to cap this annual number and so the diversity visa lottery allotment was set to be eliminated by their bill and reallocate 55,000 green card opportunities per year to those earning advanced degrees in STEM fields. The lottery, enacted in 1990, enables those from nations without strong ties to, and therefore underrepresented populations in the US (commonly refugees) to gain admittance by luck of the draw. Democrats, particularly those representing the interests of ethnic minorities are strong proponents of the lottery program and therefore seek through their bill to simply enlarge the immigration pie and add the 55,000 STEM degree green card spots on top of existing law.
There are many arguments for and against the two points of view:
I will not get into my opinions because, to be honest, I am not educated enough on the topic to make declarative statements. The real problem here is that this effort is a shining example of how our leaders have simply become unable to cooperate. Garnering a 257-158 majority of votes (62%), the Republican bill was shot down because it was pushed through to a vote by the majority party under suspension of the rules just two days after it was introduced. As exciting as this swift legislative action is, it was very likely politically motivated due to the election season, eliminated the ability to amend and compromise, and mandated a 2/3 vote to pass.
The Senate is pushing for the House to present them a bill on this topic, so there is hope something will emerge Congress. We as a constituency will, however, need to help keep the issue alive through the coming election so that those who our nation has trained may more readily stay and contribute to our continued technological leadership.
I have chosen to write about this specific case for two reasons, first it is an effort I see as important, and second because it is a prime example of politics getting in the way of governance. Yesterday, two bills existed in the House regarding this piece of policy, one written by a Democrat and another written by a Republican. Today, one bill is defeated, and the other not likely to see the light of day until next year. The feature that distinguishes the two bills is how a new group of green cards for these STEM graduates would fit in with the annual immigration allowance. Republicans believe we must continue to cap this annual number and so the diversity visa lottery allotment was set to be eliminated by their bill and reallocate 55,000 green card opportunities per year to those earning advanced degrees in STEM fields. The lottery, enacted in 1990, enables those from nations without strong ties to, and therefore underrepresented populations in the US (commonly refugees) to gain admittance by luck of the draw. Democrats, particularly those representing the interests of ethnic minorities are strong proponents of the lottery program and therefore seek through their bill to simply enlarge the immigration pie and add the 55,000 STEM degree green card spots on top of existing law.
There are many arguments for and against the two points of view:
- The US should not eliminate hope of immigration for those with little hope to begin with.
- Those entering on the lottery have higher unemployment rates and frequently do not integrate well.
- There are just over one million legal immigrants per year to the US and 55,000 more is negligible when it comes to attracting the best and brightest minds.
- The US is facing historic unemployment rates and should keep immigration numbers down in order to recover.
I will not get into my opinions because, to be honest, I am not educated enough on the topic to make declarative statements. The real problem here is that this effort is a shining example of how our leaders have simply become unable to cooperate. Garnering a 257-158 majority of votes (62%), the Republican bill was shot down because it was pushed through to a vote by the majority party under suspension of the rules just two days after it was introduced. As exciting as this swift legislative action is, it was very likely politically motivated due to the election season, eliminated the ability to amend and compromise, and mandated a 2/3 vote to pass.
The Senate is pushing for the House to present them a bill on this topic, so there is hope something will emerge Congress. We as a constituency will, however, need to help keep the issue alive through the coming election so that those who our nation has trained may more readily stay and contribute to our continued technological leadership.
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