house resolution no.248
Reps. Kuppa, O'Malley, Roth, Damoose, VanSingel, Brixie, Stone, Hood, Peterson, Hope, Breen, Steckloff, Calley, Cavanagh and Rabhi offered the following resolution:
Whereas, Immigration is a central pillar of the United States, both economically and culturally. The employment-based green card system allows those who provide value to the economy to have permanent residence in America. The vast majority of applicants for this program are already working in the United States while paying taxes and raising families here; and
Whereas, Classical, historical legal immigration has helped address America's employment needs and worker shortages. Millions of immigration applicants have been and continue to be from beyond our contiguous geographical borders. While waves of immigration have been from various parts of the world, applicants who are stuck in the long country backlog lines today include Guatemala, Honduras, and India. At last count, the numbers are 19,414 (Guatemala), 12,441 (Honduras), and 769,269 (India); and
Whereas, The current structure of the employment-based green card system is unoptimized, hurting both immigrants and the country as a whole. The program places an arbitrary limit of 7 percent on the number of green cards that can be granted to immigrants from any one country. This creates a decades-long wait for immigrants from large countries compared to a dramatically shorter wait for those from less-populated countries. The total number of workers and investors, and their family members, who cannot receive permanent residence due to this green card cap has exceeded 1 million; and
Whereas, The cap on green card recipients from each country limits the immigration of highly skilled workers and hurts the United States. Long wait times can lead highly skilled workers to choose to immigrate to another country where the process is less burdensome. A study by the CATO Institute estimated that the average wage offered to new employer-sponsored immigrants would have been more than $11,000 higher in 2019 if the per-country cap was eliminated; and
Whereas, Even though many employment-based green card applicants are already working in the United States, the long wait for permanent status creates significant economic limitations. For example, those working on temporary visas cannot start a business in the United States, resulting in missed opportunities to create jobs and restricting their ability to support a healthy economy. In addition, they cannot change employers or accept a promotion without being forced to the back of the line for a green card; and
Whereas, The unnecessary backlog of green card applicants creates significant stress for families. If an applicant’s child turns 21 before receiving a green card, they must secure a different immigration status or risk becoming undocumented and deported. More than 100,000 children are at risk of aging out of their immigration status over the next two decades if current rates continue; and
Whereas, Enacting policies to reduce the backlog in employment-based green cards would significantly benefit our state. In 2018, immigrant entrepreneurs in Michigan generated more than $27 billion in total sales and employed more than 167,000 Michigan residents. Reforming the employment-based green card system and allowing more immigrants to contribute to our state will only increase these benefits; and
Whereas, Previous opportunities to address the backlog have been squandered. In September 2021, an estimated 80,000 unused green card slots expired when applications to allocate them to immigrants stuck in years-long waits were not processed in time; and
Whereas, Previous legislation to address the backlog in employment-based green cards had significant support in both chambers of Congress. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act passed both the U.S. House and Senate with overwhelming support in 2020 but the versions passed by each chamber were not reconciled before the end of the legislative session; and
Whereas, Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the current Congress that would address the issues with the employment-based green card program. Among other changes, H.R. 3648 of 2021, also known as the Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2021, would eliminate the per-country cap on employment-based green cards and raise the per-country cap for family-based green cards to 15 percent; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the federal government to quickly enact legislation addressing the backlog in employment-based green cards, including, but not limited to, H.R. 3648 of 2021; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.