Lawmakers, led by Krishnamoorthi and Bucshon, urge administration to provide relief to high-skilled visa holders

The letter requests executive action to ease immigration system challenges and foster economic growth.

Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, and Republican Larry Bucshon of Indiana, along with 56 of their colleagues, have sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging the Biden administration to take executive action aimed at providing relief to high-skilled employment-based visa holders.

In their letter, the congressmen have specifically requested that the administration designate all dates for the filing of employment-based visa applications in the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ published Employment-Based Visa Bulletin as “current.”

READ: ‘I have 150 years of wait before I can get a green card’: the endless wait of high skilled Indians in America (November 29, 2019)

This move would enable employment-based applications to be filed without considering applicants’ country-based priority date, offering much-needed relief to thousands of individuals navigating the complex US immigration system. Additionally, it could potentially make some individuals eligible for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), granting them the freedom to change jobs, start businesses, and travel abroad to visit family without facing penalties.

The absence of this administrative action has left individuals in a constant state of uncertainty, causing significant challenges for those seeking legal immigration pathways. In some cases, individuals are compelled to remain with one company or organization due to their green card status, penalizing them for pursuing legal immigration routes. Notably, this approach has been employed during the administration of President George W. Bush, and the bipartisan coalition believes it can offer meaningful solutions to the current immigration challenges.

“I’m proud to join my colleagues in urging the Biden administration to address bureaucratic delays in our legal immigration system that are holding back our economy while leaving so many families in limbo,” said Krishnamoorthi in a press release issued by his office. “By using its authority under existing law, the Administration can ease this burden while strengthening our economy and helping to create jobs.”

Bucshon, a physician, expressed his concerns about the challenges faced by hardworking immigrants in Indiana who are legally working as doctors, engineers, and in other essential professions. He highlighted that these individuals are unfortunately stuck in the visa backlog due to bureaucratic red tape within the nation’s legal immigration system. As a result, they lack the flexibility to change jobs, start businesses, or travel abroad without facing penalties.

“I believe that it’s important for the Administration to act within current law to make it easier for these legal immigrants to navigate our immigration system and continue making a positive contribution to our nation and our economy,” said Bucshon.

Immigration activists welcomed the letter.

“This commonsense measure proposed in the letter by Congressmen Krishnamoorthi and Bucshon would be an absolute game changer to provide basic human rights—such as the ability to change jobs and travel—for nearly 1 million high skilled immigrants whose status in the United States can end at any moment, and is entirely dependent upon the whims of their employer,” said Aman Kapoor President of Immigration Voice.

The signatories included, besides Krishnamoorthi, four other Indian American members of Congress, Representatives Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Shri Thanedar. The following are the other signatories:

Reps. Auchincloss (D-MA), Baird (R-IN), Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Carter (R-GA), Casar (D-TX), Castro (D-TX), Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Chu (D-CA), Crockett (D-TX), Davis (D-IL), Davis (D-NC), Dean (D-PA), Deluzio (D-PA), Dingell (D-MI), Evans (D-PA), Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Fletcher (D-TX), Frankel (D-FL), Gimenez (R-FL), Goldman (D-NY), Gomez (D-CA), Harder (D-CA) Houlahan (D-PA), Jackson Lee (D-TX), Johnson (D-GA), Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), Keating (D-MA), Kim (D-NJ), Manning (D-NC), McGarvey (D-KY), McGovern (D-MA), Meng (D-NY), Morelle (D-NY), Nadler (D-NY), Pallone (D-NJ), Panetta (D-CA), Phillips (D-MN), Porter (D-CA), Raskin (D-MD), Ross (D-NC), Ruppersberger (D-MD), Salazar (R-FL), Schiff (D-CA), Smith (D-WA), Stanton (D-AZ), Swalwell (D-CA), Trahan (D-MA), Trone (D-MD), Velázquez (D-NY), Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Wexton (D-VA).

Here is the text of the letter:
July 28, 2023

The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, D.C. 20528

The Honorable Antony J. Blinken Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Secretary Mayorkas and Secretary Blinken:

The U.S. economy continues to benefit from our retention of highly skilled workers, predominantly advanced degree holders in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) employed in critical industries in the United States. These professionals are scientists, inventors, healthcare workers, entrepreneurs, and talents who contribute to the United States’ global competitiveness. These talented individuals are eager to live and work in the U.S., but the current immigration system is broken, making it nearly impossible for them to stay. Given decades long backlogs and increased recruitment by Canada of foreign STEM talent, the number of individuals who remain committed to waiting for an employment-based green card is unclear. As a result, we encourage the administration to make all employment-based visas current on the Visa Bulletin on October 1, 2023.

By definition, on October 1st (i.e., the first day of each government fiscal year), none of the available 140,000 employment-based green cards have been allocated yet for that fiscal year. Moreover, at the beginning of the year, it cannot be known how many of the people who either have already applied, or who will apply, for green cards will actually be eligible to receive a green card. Some number will be approved, and some number will be denied on one of the many statutory or discretionary grounds of ineligibility. Other individuals may even have lost their employer sponsor due to the recent layoffs in the tech sector or moved to a country with more straightforward immigration laws.

Over the past few years, the Department of State has been wildly inconsistent in how it has set the bulletin, creating confusion among those seeking employment-based green cards. Therefore, all eligible applicants who already have an approved employment-based Immigrant Petition (Form I-140) should have the opportunity to submit an I-485 application for adjustment of status between October 1st and October 31st of each fiscal year. This way, the administration can ensure that it will have sufficient applicants to award each of the available green cards—as it has been the case that many prior years have seen green cards go wasted rather than be issued to extremely deserving applicants. This fact is critical, because between FY 1992 and FY 2021, the federal government failed to issue at least 194,100 available employment-based green cards.1 There is historical precedent to utilizing the Visa Bulletin to gauge interest in green cards, such as when President George W. Bush and his administration marked all dates as current in the July 2007 Visa Bulletin.

Thank you for your consideration of this important action. We look forward to continued collaboration on legislative and technical solutions to provide relief for our constituents in the backlog.