Are the Democrats Holding Skilled Immigrant Workers Hostage to the Plight of the Undocumented?

Those of you familiar with my work know that I have been researching and writing about skilled immigration for several years. I myself am an immigrant who co-founded two software companies. The first, Seer Technologies, employed more than 1000 workers at its peak; the second, Relativity Technologies, about 250. So I did pretty well for the country that had allowed me to make it my home.

After becoming an academic, I started documenting the contributions of others like me and raising the alarm on the role of America’s immigration policies in increasingly chasing skilled immigrants away. To tell the full story, I wrote a book, The Immigrant Exodus: Why America Is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent.

Over the years, there were many times when I was optimistic that finally Congress would pass legislation that corrected the visa problem and enabled the technology industry to start firing on all cylinders again. But, every time, legislation got stalled in the House, and we were let down.

When I asked Congressional staffers on Capitol Hill what the real problem was, they would tell me—off the record—that Democratic Party bosses such as Nancy Pelosi feared offending the Hispanic community, so they would not allow a vote. The concern was that if we fixed the problems of the high-skilled, there would be no urgency for the undocumented, low-skilled workers. It didn't matter that the high-skilled workers entered the country legally while the low-skilled entered through a back door or overstayed their visas.

So, that was the real logjam. It was hurting the technology industry and making life miserable for hundreds of thousands of foreign-born doctors, scientists, engineers, teachers…and it was an open secret.

Last week, I got to debate Congressional leaders in person. I was asked to testify to the House Judiciary Committee, headed by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). I found him and the Republican Congressmen very supportive of skilled immigration; the Democrats obsessed over family reunification and citizenship for the undocumented. It was really awkward for me, because I believe in both causes. I have always been sympathetic to the plight of the undocumented workers, but, frankly, holding the cause of skilled workers hostage has never seemed right to me. After all, we need the skilled immigrants to boost the economy and create the jobs so that the public welcomes new immigrants. Whenever an economy is bad, foreigners get blamed for taking jobs away. This happens in every country, not just the U.S.

The Congressional hearing started with the Chairman quoting me from my book and asking me to give the opening testimony. And then we had lively discussions. The Republicans kept asking me about skilled immigration, while the Democrats hammered me on the tradeoffs with family-based immigration.

I also got to meet the leader of the Hispanic caucus in person: a Democrat from Chicago, Louis Gutiérrez. To my surprise, he openly admitted that he had held up the skilled immigration legislation for the last ten years. He said “For ten years, I insisted that nothing happen on STEM [Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics] or any other particular part of comprehensive immigration reform unless we did it all”. He then went on to say that he had offered a compromise recently that the Republicans snubbed; and he argued passionately for the cause of undocumented. Gutiérrez seemed principled and reasonable. And he didn't mince words or try to hide why we were not solving the skilled-immigration problem.

Capitol Hill isn’t a place to have sensible discussions or to discuss meaningful compromises—it’s all rhetoric and politics. But the blogosphere is. So this has spilled over to TechCrunch—where Gutiérrez agreed to debate me.

My first blog is titled: Dear Congressman Gutiérrez, Please Lift Your Hold On Silicon Valley. In this, I lay out my arguments as to why skilled immigration is important and why we shouldn’t hold this group hostage—when both sides agree on key policies. And then I suggest a compromise: that while our President fights for comprehensive immigration reform, Gutiérrez support a Startup Visa—to allow foreign entrepreneurs to start companies in the U.S.—and we untether H-1B workers from their employers so that they are freed from indentured servitude.

Please read the blog and post your comments here. Let's hope that Rep. Gutiérrez soon offers a positive response to my post.

If you want to watch the Judiciary hearings, you can do so here.