[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11974]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANT WORKERS

  (Mr. YODER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. YODER. Mr. Speaker, more than 700,000 high-skilled immigrant 
workers from India are in the United States today on temporary work 
visas. These people are working hard every day helping grow our economy 
and raising their children as Americans right here in our communities.
  But under our legal immigration system, they are essentially here as 
indentured servants, stuck in a cycle of temporary work visas, unable 
to change jobs or even start their own businesses to create more 
American jobs. They are stuck because of the arbitrary 7-percent-per-
nation cap on employment-based green cards.
  Now there is a mother in Greenland whose unborn child will be able to 
obtain permanent residence in America before someone from India who has 
already been working here for years. That is absurd, and it is wrong.
  My bill, called the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, would 
fix this problem. It would transition us to a first come, first served, 
merit-based legal immigration system. It would help these people in 
need, and it would help create new jobs.
  Mr. Speaker, with more than 230 cosponsors, it is time to pass this 
bill and get this done.

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