Immigration Reform: The Future Of Immigration Policy…Visa Auctions?
By: Timothy Sutton, Communications Editor
The Hamilton Project, at the Brookings Institution held a forum on U.S. immigration on May 15, 2012. US Davis Economist, 
Giovanni Peri, purposed a radical overhaul to the entire immigration system. In short, Peri proposed a national auction system wherein employers bid for employee visas and proceeds of these sales fund local healthcare and education. The auction prices would be set with a reserve to ensure a minimal guaranteed income stream. Uncapped, the market would dictate the number of visas issued annually. This proposal seems to find a common ground between business needs and government regulation, benefiting the low-skilled labor market.
Auctioning low-skilled labor visas should help reduce the population of roughly 11.5 million illegal immigrants. Employers will be able to hire a legal workforce up to the point where auction prices for visas offset low wage savings. At that time, I-9 audits and workplace raids should continue to deter further hiring of illegal immigrants. This larger, stable and legal temporary workforce will help stabilize the economy. Changes are welcomed for companies like 3M that recently experienced a “brain drain.” 3M has been outsourcing science and technology jobs to Asia, citing the instability of the low skilled labor market they rely on to support their laboratories, manufacturing, research and development.
While Peri’s proposals are likely years away from actually being introduced into legislation, public officials like Senator John Cornyn continue to push for business friendly immigration. Senator Cornyn recently introduced legislation that would add 85,000 H-1B temporary visas issued annually to foreign-born engineers, mathematicians, scientists and other high-tech workers. Cornyn reminded the Senate, “We have to remember how this country was built. All of us are sons and daughters of immigrants that showed up here and made our way. We’ve cut off that flow.”
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Tags: Brookings Institute, H-1B Quota, H-1B Visas, I-9 Form, I-9/E-Verify News, I-9/E-Verify News, Immigration Compliance Group, Immigration Legislation, Immigration News, Immigration Politics, Immigration Reform, Legal Workforce, Senator Cronyn, Skilled Workers