House and Senate Republicans looking to pay for tax cuts and other GOP priorities could turn to highly skilled immigrants. As GOP lawmakers scramble for funding sources, a mutually beneficial arrangement could emerge if Republicans, including those opposed to legal immigration, recognize the advantages.
Immigration and The Reconciliation Process
Congressional Republicans hoping to enact new spending and extend expiring tax cuts will use “reconciliation.” According to the Congressional Research Service, “Reconciliation is a two-stage process in which reconciliation instructions are included in the budget resolution directing the appropriate committees to develop legislation achieving the desired budgetary outcomes, and the resultant legislation (usually incorporated into an omnibus bill) is considered under expedited procedures in the House and Senate.”
Republicans can pass a reconciliation bill without Democrats using a filibuster to block it in the Senate. Despite that advantage, passing such a bill (or bills) remains challenging due to narrow majorities and concerns among some Republicans not to enlarge the national debt. House and Senate Republicans have yet to agree on whether to have one or two reconciliation bills.
Republicans hope a combination of spending cuts and revenue raisers will prove sufficient to make the math work. However, the task is not easy for lawmakers.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) planned to raise revenue by charging fees to “people applying for asylum, temporary protected status or parole,” reports Punchbowl News. However, the Trump administration’s new restrictions limit TPS, asylum and parole applications, so little revenue can come via that route. Businesses hope that other speculative ways to raise money, such as taxing new H-1B visa applications, will not be used because they see such measures as penalizing companies for hiring talented workers.
An Immigration Approach That Addresses Employment-Based Green Card Backlogs
Another approach would be for Republicans to charge a fee to highly skilled individuals mired in green card backlogs. The best way to solve the employment-based backlog problem would be to enact higher annual limits and exemptions from annual quotas and to end the per-country limit. However, previous legislative efforts have been unsuccessful, and advocacy groups have indicated many individuals might jump at creative ways to speed up their path to permanent residence and eventual U.S. citizenship. Unlike asylum seekers, those waiting for employment-based green cards typically earn high salaries.
According to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis, approximately one million high-skilled foreign nationals, including dependents, have been approved for permanent residence but could wait many years before their priority date arrives and they can receive a green card. The significant backlog developed because of the low annual quota of 140,000 employment-based green cards and a per-country limit that affects people from larger countries.
The backlog consists primarily of Indians waiting years—even decades—for green cards in the top three employment-based preference categories. These are people already working in the United States on a work visa, not new entrants to the U.S. labor force. Most gain regular extensions to their H-1B status to remain in the country and work but live with anxiety and uncertainty. Their employers completed an expensive labor certification process that included demonstrating no U.S. worker was available for the job.
Solving The Immigration Backlog And Raising $25 Billion
If the fee were set appropriately, many of these one million people would likely appreciate taking years off their wait for an employment-based green card. Charging $10,000 to each potential immigrant waiting in the employment-based backlog could raise $10 billion. If the market could bear $25,000, the measure would raise $25 billion in revenue for the reconciliation bill’s priorities.
Some companies hoping to attract new employees or retain existing ones may pay all or part of the fee. Thousands of EB-5 immigrant investors approved for a green card are also waiting years for permanent residence and would likely pay a significant amount to quicken the process.
Republicans could reap even more budgetary leeway if they can convince the Congressional Budget Office to adopt a more reasonable scoring on high-skilled immigrants. Former CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf (now Dean at Harvard Kennedy School) and Dartmouth economics professor Heidi Williams found a more dynamic scoring approach would show granting about 825,000 green cards to high-skilled immigrants reduces federal budget deficits by $129 billion over 10 years.
Analysts note it could be a win-win to allow legal immigrants to accelerate the green card process, particularly when people pay smugglers remarkable amounts to immigrate unlawfully. The New York Times reported on a man whose family spent over $70,000 in smuggling and other fees to get him to America from India. He now works in a cafe in the United States.
Allowing people to obtain an employment-based green card more quickly could unleash thousands of startups. Jyoti Bansal had a great business idea but had to wait seven years in H-1B status. Once he received an employment authorization document and a green card, he started AppDynamics. Cisco acquired the company for $3.7 billion in 2017 after it grew to employ over 2,000 people. Shortly after, Bansal cofounded Harness, a company valued today at nearly $4 billion with approximately 1,000 employees.
Other solutions to eliminate the employment-based green card backlog have failed. Many Republicans say they have no problem with people who immigrate legally to America. The reconciliation bill could present an opportunity to solve a significant issue and give GOP lawmakers a chance to demonstrate they support legal immigration.
