AntiBVBL

According to the Washington Times article, Gates urges a boost in skilled-worker immigration

Microsoft Chairman & Founder Bill Gates testified about the decline of skilled workers yesterday before the House cience and Technology Committee.  Last fall, Microsoft announced their intention to create an office in Vancouver, Canada so that they could ‘attract talent and avoid U.S. immigration issues.’

According to this article,

Mr. Gates has long been an advocate of reforming the H-1B visa program for skilled workers. The program’s annual cap of 65,000 was met last year on the first day that applications were accepted. At Microsoft, one-third of foreign job candidates were unable to obtain visas last year, Mr. Gates said.

This testimony from Bill Gates seems to re-affirm those pesky ‘paperwork problems’ again.

Let me state, in my work as a government contractor working in the technical field among many H1B visa holders, I can attest to the fact that this system, as well, needs an overhaul.  My suggestion would be to allot these visas but not allow the employers to control them.  Currently, if an employee is released from a company they have 30 days to find another job or leave the country.  This could lead to cases where employers take advantage of employees with these types of visas.  There are safeguards built into the system so that they should be paid a ‘prevailing wage’ so as not to undercut the wage system.

This leads nicely into a discussion about immigration reform.  Should we change our current system of ‘family re-unification’ into a ‘merit based system’ whereby more highly skilled workers would gain admission?  There are those who would argue that by allowing in the more highly skilled workers we would more greatly aid our flailing social security system because those admitted would have higher social security contributions.  And there are others that would say that the words on the Statute of Liberty have served us well, so why change.

From the Statute of Liberty -

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.