A set of immigration principles recently released by U.S GOP (Grand Old Party/Republican) lawmakers have prompted IT industry executives and analysts to believe that U.S immigration reform will pick up pace this year after being delayed by the government shutdown last year.
Republican leaders, last week, released a broad framework for immigration reform that builds on the Skills Visa Act— a House Bill that is more favourable for Indian IT companies such as Infosys. “So, the Republicans have released a new immigration ‘statement of principles’ that recognizes the need for high-skilled immigrations to help fuel U.S business growth,” said R. Chandrasekaran, Executive Vice-Chairman, Cognizant India. “Some believe this development signals a continued desire by American lawmakers to consider immigration reform sometime this year. We support reform that will increase the cap on H1-B visas… we need to wait and see how that plays out,” he added. In a section that covers the H-1B visa, one principle states that the “goal of any temporary worker program should be to address the economic needs of the country.” Daniel Costa, immigration policy analyst, Economic Policy Institute, is optimistic about U.S immigration reform happening in 2014.
“Although it is far from a concrete proposal, the standards released give us a hint of what the Republican caucus might be willing to vote on,” he said.
