Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN) recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting executive action to provide relief to highly skilled workers, allowing the filing of employment-based immigrant visa applications by marking all dates as "current" across all chargeability areas for employment-based green card cases in the October 2023 Visa Bulletin.
The letter, co-signed by a bipartisan group of 56 other members of Congress, outlined the precedent and authority for such action and highlighted the compelling government and economic interests in retaining these highly skilled professionals within the U.S. labor force, particularly during this time of increased opportunities for STEM workers to relocate to Canada. The action would bring relief and security to thousands of foreign nationals and their families by securing their ability to maintain work authorization, get promoted, and launch businesses. Under the current backlogs, these foreign nationals and their families are stuck in limbo waiting for the next step in obtaining their green cards beholden to their current job and employer. According to the letter, if the United States does not address these shortcomings, it is at risk of losing critical talent to countries that have already taken steps to prioritize immigration opportunities for highly skilled workers.
In the press release on Congressmen Krishnamoorthi's website, Aman Kapoor, president of Immigration Voice was quoted as saying, "The entire basis for this problem is a discriminatory immigration system that requires Indian nationals to have to wait 200 years for a green card while people from 150 other countries have no wait at all. While this larger problem cannot be fixed without legislation, our organization of over 100,000 members is absolutely thrilled with the bipartisan effort of Congressmen Krishnamoorthi, Bucshon and 56 other members of Congress to call on the Biden Administration to adopt this change."
Details:
- Letter to the Biden Administration, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi website (July 28, 2023).
- Press Release, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi website (July 28, 2023).
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