U.S. Immigration Updates- Week of February 7, 2022
U.S. House Passes Bill to Attract and Retain Immigrants in STEM Fields; Senate Passage Uncertain
On February 4, 2022, the House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act of 2022 (H.R. 4521). The bill would exempt international science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) PhD graduates from the green card numerical cap, create a new visa category for entrepreneurs, and provide temporary protected status for Hong Kong residents. In June 2021, the U.S. Senate passed a similar bill. There are enough differences between the two bills to make the final passage uncertain.
On January 25, 2022, the House Rules Committee added Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s (D-CA) LIKE Act to create an immigrant startup visa and also an exemption from annual green card limits and backlogs for foreign nationals with a Ph.D. in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. Because of the potential to provide new opportunities for entrepreneurs and top researchers around the world, these two additions, overall, might produce more innovations in the United States. Both measures fund additional scholarships for U.S. students in STEM fields by charging $1,000 supplemental fees for those receiving a green card or status under the legislation.
The bill creates a temporary visa for foreign-born entrepreneurs who qualify and “Allows the founder to apply for and receive lawful permanent residence if the startup entity meets certain additional benchmarks.” The lack of a startup visa disadvantages the U.S. compared to other nations like Canada in retaining and attracting foreign-born entrepreneurs.
Exempting individuals with Ph.D.s in STEM fields from annual green card limits would relieve many from long wait times for permanent residence and (indirectly) reduce the decades-long waits for other highly skilled immigrants. The provision would allow U.S. employers to gain a significant competitive edge by offering the chance at permanent residence to outstanding researchers from around the world, including those early in their careers and engaging in innovative work.
An amendment at the Rules Committee sponsored by Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) added “health professions and related programs” to the STEM fields for which Ph.D.s are eligible under the bill to be exempt from the annual limit on employment-based green cards. The bill already covered physicians with a medical residency.
An amendment sponsored by Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) provides international students on F visas in STEM fields with “dual intent.” That means a consular officer no longer will need to be convinced a student in a STEM field will not seek permanent residence in the United States. The Biden administration recently reversed restrictive guidance in the Foreign Affairs Manual—added during the Trump administration—that would have a similar effect to the Foster amendment. However, a law is more difficult than guidance for a new administration to change.
An amendment sponsored by Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) expanded the exemption from the annual numerical limit for green cards for Ph.D.s in STEM fields to include individuals with a master’s degree
“in the case of an alien who works in a critical industry.”
What is a critical industry? “The term ‘critical industry’ means an industry that is critical for the national security or economic security of the United States, considering key technology focus areas and critical infrastructure,” according to the America COMPETES Act. The term “critical infrastructure” under 42 U.S.C. 5195c “means systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.”
In sum, like most new laws, regulation will define the scope of the provision, but it is likely to include several technology specialties. The year 1990 was the last time Congress passed legislation that included legal immigration reforms as significant as startup visas for immigrant entrepreneurs and a smooth path to permanent residence for the world’s top scientists and engineers.
Sources: ABIL Newsletter, February 6, 2022, and Stuart Anderson, Forbes, February 7, 2022: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2022/02/07/house-passes-bill-with-more-measures-for-immigrants-in-stem-fields/?sh=4a4fec8c14a2
USCIS Director Asks Federal Funding to Reduce Backlogs; Previews Fee Increases
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur Jaddou put out a plea Wednesday to Congress for more funding to help the immigration agency tackle lengthy visa backlogs and processing times that have kept applicants in limbo for months or longer.
During a stakeholder briefing, Jaddou acknowledged mounting visa delays, which have caused individuals applying to receive and renew visas and work permits to wait months, some losing their jobs in the meantime.
While noting USCIS has improved its financial standing in recent years, Jaddou said the agency still needs “additional resources to decrease processing times and to tackle the unprecedented backlog and our ever-growing humanitarian mission.”
Congress passed an emergency funding law in 2020 that allowed USCIS to collect higher fees for fast-tracked processing and offer the service on more types of applications, which the agency has yet to fully implement. Later that year, Congress gave the agency nearly $128 million in its fiscal 2021 spending bill.
Senate Democrats have proposed giving the agency $345 million in fiscal 2022, while House appropriators have proposed giving the agency roughly $474 million this fiscal year.
Congress passed an emergency funding law in 2020 that allowed USCIS to collect higher fees for fast-tracked processing and offer the service on more types of applications, which the agency has yet to fully implement. Later that year, Congress gave the agency nearly $128 million in its fiscal 2021 spending bill.
Senate Democrats have proposed giving the agency $345 million in fiscal 2022, while House appropriators have proposed giving the agency roughly $474 million this fiscal year.
Jaddou also previewed an upcoming agency regulation to raise immigration application fees. USCIS, which is primarily fee-funded, is the Homeland Security agency responsible for adjudicating requests for green cards, asylum and U.S. citizenship. It previously attempted to raise its fees under the Trump administration, including by adding a first-ever asylum application fee, but the rule was struck down in court.
Jaddou did not indicate when the higher fees would take effect but said the agency would be seeking public feedback later this year for a “new, equitable fee structure that balances the needs of our agency with our goals of promoting access to the system.”
These fees will be particularly needed if Congress does not allocate more funds for the immigration agency, she said.
“This rule will be critical, critical to the success of our mission, and even more critical if USCIS continues as a primarily fee-funded [organization] without appropriate congressional funding,” she said.
In her Wednesday remarks, Jaddou also pointed to ways in which the agency has made progress in the past year.
USCIS eliminated a so-called “front log” of unopened immigration applications that built up during the pandemic, Jaddou said. The agency also reduced the fingerprinting appointment line from more than 1.4 million in January 2021 to a more “manageable” 83,000.
Jaddou also pledged to increase staffing, including by hiring nearly 200 new employees in the agency’s asylum division to focus on reducing the backlog.
Sources: Suzanne Monyak, Roll Call, February 2, 2022: USCIS director: Federal immigration funds ‘critical’ to agency – Roll Call
U.S. Sees Increased Demand for Foreign Healthcare Workers
A shortage of healthcare workers in the United States has left hospitals looking abroad for nurses and other positions in the healthcare industry, particularly in light of an influx of available green cards. Typically, the U.S. typically allots around 140,000 green cards annually to people moving to the U.S. permanently for certain professions, including many in the healthcare field. However, there are approximately twice as many green cards available now because the green card slots given to other categories, such as family members of U.S. citizens, went unused during travel shutdowns and embassy closures that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The unused spots were then moved into other categories, including for professionals.
The Biden administration has taken some steps to try to help foreign healthcare workers to enter or remain in the U.S. to assist during the pandemic. The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has indicated it would speed up the renewal of work permits for healthcare workers, and the State Department told U.S. consulates last year to prioritize applications for healthcare workers at facilities dealing with the pandemic.
Source: National Law Review, February 4, 2022: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/immigration-weekly-round-president-biden-reauthorizes-immediate-expulsion