Different public policy approaches to skilled immigration

Abstract

The influx of skilled foreign workers has been considered a necessity for growth. To fill a gap in the supply of skilled workers, Congress created the H-1B visa program. The visas were for three years with an option of renewal to six years. This would allow the H-1B visa holder to seek permanent status either via a green card or citizenship. A second group of skilled immigrants entered with different visa classifications. These were professional athletes. Professional athletes entered using the P-1A visa. Athletes with extraordinary skills received an O-1A visa. The visas allowed foreign professional players both men and women the ability to compete in U.S. professional leagues. Immigration has become controversial with arguments that foreign workers depressed compensation of native workers and that firms hired foreign workers over available native workers. Recent public policy actions have sought to curtail H-IB visas. However, nothing has been proposed to curtail foreign professional athletes who hold a significantly higher percentage of their labor force positions (47.1 %) than H-1B visa recipients have among high tech workers (5.0 %).