November’s elections promised to supercharge efforts to revamp the nation’s immigration system. An early test will come this week when the House takes up a bill that would make it easier for more foreign students to remain in the U.S. after graduating with advanced college degrees.
The legislation pits advocates for a broad immigration overhaul, notably Democrats and the White House, against Republicans who favor a narrower approach for high-tech and engineering firms that are struggling to attract educated workers.
While the bill isn’t likely to become law, it is a glimpse of how both sides are now angling for advantage on what has been a divisive political issue. Even Democrats who support the bill’s purpose are likely to vote in opposition, preferring a broader approach that can address the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S.
The measure, expected to come up for a vote Friday in the House, would expand from 120,000 to 170,000 the number of so-called STEM visas, which are designed for foreigners holding postgraduate or doctoral degrees from U.S. universities. It also would scrap a separate program that grants 50,000 visas to people from poorer nations with few other avenues for legal immigration to the U.S.
“We cannot afford to educate these foreign graduates in the U.S. and then send them back home to work for our competitors,” Rep. Lamar Smith (R., Texas), the Judiciary Committee chairman, said in a statement.
Republicans say expanding this program has bipartisan support and should be done even before a bigger immigration overhaul. GOP aides say they tweaked the bill to appeal to Democrats by making it easier for family members of green-card holders to reside in the U.S. while their applications for permanent status are processed.
Democratic aides said the changes were made without their input. And even if it passes the House, Senate Democratic leadership aides said there are no plans to take up the bill before the end of the current congress.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and an advocate for a comprehensive immigration overhaul, predicted a lack of Democratic support. The bill would “give modest help to a few immigrants…under terms [Republicans] dictate that shows no understanding of the situation facing the wider immigrant community,” he said.
In the aftermath of GOP electoral defeats three weeks ago, House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said he recognized the need to pursue a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Other Republicans, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, have long argued the party should embrace a modernization of immigration laws to better appeal to Hispanic voters.
President Barack Obama has spoken broadly about the problem of losing highly trained foreign graduates, but hasn’t specifically pushed for legislation. A White House official said “any legislation that moves should be part of a balanced approach to fixing the immigration system, and this proposal does not meet that standard.”
Also, Tuesday, a pair of retiring Senate Republicans, Jon Kyl of Arizona and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, offered a measure aimed at giving young illegal immigrants a way to avoid deportation, a similar concept to a plan backed by Mr. Obama.
Democratic lawmakers have in the past introduced bills to expand the STEM program, but without reducing visas for other potential immigrants. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D., Calif.), the top Democrat on the House immigration subcommittee, called the GOP effort “a one-sided bill that will divide people, and not the bipartisan action voters in the last election said they want to see.”
Business groups are split on whether to pursue a broad or narrow goal. Michael Petricone, senior vice president for government affairs at the Consumer Electronics Association, which represents makers of popular electronic goods, said lawmakers should first address the needs of U.S. firms clamoring for more visas. “The sooner we can put an end to our current policy of deporting people with advanced degrees who want to stay in the country, the better,” he said.
William Stock, treasurer of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said he opposes the bill because it doesn’t deal with the wider question of modernizing the immigration system.
“There are a lot of other crying needs and that’s why a more comprehensive approach needs to be taken,” he said.
