Today Senator Warner attended a Commerce Committee hearing on “The Role of Immigrants in America's Innovation Economy,” where he spoke in favor of comprehensive immigration reform that would spur economic growth.   In particular, he praised the Senate proposal’s commitment to reforming our high-skilled immigration system.

“The fact that the [Senate Gang of Eight’s] proposed legislation has an expanded H1-B program, a STEM program and an entrepreneur’s visa, and  the fact that there is going to be a legal path for Dreamers,” said Senator Warner, “makes it so obviously additive to our economy that it seems almost a no brainer.

Under the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, at least forty percent of employment visas will go to immigrants who hold advanced degrees in areas where there are insufficient numbers of American workers, including to those with foreign medical degrees and advanced degrees in STEM fields.

The legislation reforms the H1-B visa program, including by raising the per-year cap from 65,000 to 110,000.  The cap, which has not reflected either businesses’ needs or the number of applicants for years, could be adjusted in future years based on employment data. The bill also creates a new INVEST visa for entrepreneurs who create new jobs, which builds on the entrepreneur visa in Senator Warner’s Startup 3.0 Act.  

During the hearing, Senator Warner reminded his fellow lawmakers how inefficient it is to deny American-educated immigrants the chance to put their skills to work in the American economy. 

“We’ve been funding our global economic competitors in part because of our broken immigration system,” he said, “which is extraordinarily short-sighted.  But I’m hopeful that with this bill we can continue to be a magnet for both capital and talent for the foreseeable future.”