Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee - Immigration Reforms Needed to Protect Skilled American Workers

Hearing

Almost two years ago, the Senate came together to pass comprehensive legislation to reform our
broken immigration system. The bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and
Immigration Modernization Act (S.744) took meaningful steps to help U.S. businesses fill
critical job needs, while ensuring protections remain in place to help and train American
workers. Importantly, it did so while focusing on our broken immigration system as a whole.
The Senate bill acknowledged that we can only modernize our complex immigration system if
we also work to reunite families, address decades-long visa backlogs, and, above all, create an
attainable path for the millions of people who already call this country home to become full and
lawful participants in our society.

Today's hearing focuses on problems with the H-1B and other visa programs that are used to
bring high-skilled workers into the United States. I and many other Senators have heard
consistently about the need for improvements to these programs to ensure that U.S. companies
can attract world-class talent and continue to lead on the global stage. We have also heard
troubling stories of abuses that have caused the displacement of American workers. These visa
programs must be used to complement the U.S. workforce, not displace it.

One topic that I hope will be discussed during this hearing is the meaningful contribution that
immigrant workers make to the U.S. economy, and the ways in which a healthy immigration
system can grow the country's economic base and create jobs that benefit all Americans.
Today, we will hear from a witness who shares such a story: Bjorn Billhardt came to the United
States as a high-school exchange student, later earned degrees from the University of Texas and
Harvard Business School, and subsequently stayed in the United States to start a successful
education business that now employs over 40 people. Mr. Billhardt's experience illustrates the
value of an immigration system that welcomes diverse backgrounds and keeps promising
graduates of our universities here in the United States, where they can contribute to our culture
and our economy.

Some of the witnesses today will speak about concerns with the H-1B program. I share many of
those concerns, and agree they must be addressed. In fact, many of those concerns were directly
addressed in the bipartisan comprehensive immigration legislation this Committee approved and
the Senate passed last Congress. That bill contained vital measures to improve the functioning
and administrability of the H-1B program. It included important provisions to protect both
foreign and American workers from exploitation and displacement. Many of those measures
were added to the bill by this Committee after hearing testimony from some of the same
witnesses and organizations that appear before us today.

While I did not agree with every provision in S.744, I respected the bipartisan compromise the
Senate achieved through a deliberative and thoughtful process. Forty-two witnesses testified
before this Committee on the topic of immigration reform during the 113th Congress. With the
full participation of all members of the Judiciary Committee, and with unprecedented
transparency and fairness to all in offering amendments, we held several public markups to
consider comprehensive immigration legislation. We considered 212 amendments, and we
adopted 136 of them -- all but 3 on a bipartisan basis. The Judiciary Committee reported S.744
with a bipartisan vote of 13-5, and the full Senate, after further debate and amendment, passed
the legislation with a strong bipartisan vote of 68-32.

The bill was a landmark achievement not only for this thorough process, but because of its
comprehensive approach to fixing our broken immigration system. Piecemeal efforts are an
inadequate solution for a system as complex and interconnected as our immigration laws. We
need an immigration system that lives up to American values: one that not only ensures that
America can access the best talent to remain competitive and at the forefront of innovation, but
also allows families to be reunited and respects the diversity and inclusion that has made our
Nation great. We need an immigration system that treats individuals with dignity and respects
due process rights and civil liberties. One that shields the most vulnerable among us, including
children, crime victims, asylum seekers, and refugees. And, finally, one that will reinvigorate
our economy and enrich our communities through meaningful and comprehensive reform.

I hope that this hearing focuses on constructive solutions about how to reform an immigration
system that those on all sides acknowledge must be fixed. I look forward to learning what those
who voted against much-needed reform last congress will propose as a comprehensive solution
to our broken immigration system this year.

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