8/8/2019 Immigration Reform Legislation ManuFACT for Business and Manufacturers

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ManuFACTS: Immigration ReformIncrease Competitiveness Through a Legal, Skilled Workforce

•  Manufacturers are significantly impacted by the lack of workers with skills to

meet the needs of advanced manufacturing. They need immediate solutions toreplenish the pipeline and help bring America out of the economic recession.

•  Immediate efforts must be made to expand and modernize the current

employment-based visa programs to ensure that talented international

workers are drawn to the United States. In addition, valuable contributors to

the U.S. economy should be retained. Green card backlogs cost employers

important talent and must be reduced.

•  In a 2010 survey, NAM members chose “creating a market based system toattract talent” as the most important goal of immigration reform.

•  Employers currently rely on a paper-based verification system known as the

I-9 form and the additional electronic system known as E-Verify. Both are overly

complex, administratively burdensome and subject to fraud and identity theft.

•  America’s manufacturers want a legal workforce and need a quick, efficient,

reliable and inexpensive system of verification. The outdated immigration

system must be revamped to ensure America has access to the talent neededfor researching, developing and manufacturing new products and services

that help us remain competitive.

•  Adopting a legal immigration system that better reflects market demands and

provides the flexibility needed to respond to specialized skill needs is vital to

maintaining manufacturers’ ability to fuel economic growth.

How Congress Can Help

•  Update the employment-based green card system to decrease the backlog.

•  Create an immigration system based on market demands to improve innovation.

•  Promote a legal workforce without displacing Americans who want available jobs.

•  Utilize a reliable verification system that shields employers who use the system from liability.

•  Revise the current visa policy to allow U.S. science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degree holder

who have a job offer to transition directly from student visa to green card if employment is available.

1331 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004 P 202•637•3000   F 202•637•3182 www.nam.org

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More Information

America has prospered by welcoming the best and brightest fromaround the world. In the last 15 years, foreign nationals havestarted 25 percent of U.S. venture-backed public companies,accounting for more than $500 billion in market capitalizationand adding significant value to the American economy. Highlyeducated foreign-born professionals are one of America’sgreatest competitive advantages, and we must not shut thedoor on these talented minds.

The legal immigration system needs to be reworked to discourageillegal immigration and to support a foreign-born workforcewithout displacing American workers.

As Congress considers verification, businesses want to workwith Congress to address the shortcomings of the current verifi-cation system. Employers recognize that the current I-9 and E-Verify leave them vulnerable to damage to their reputation anddisruptions in operations through no fault of their own. Employersneed to be shielded from the liability associated with using averification system. Further, employers cannot accept liabilityfor subcontractors who may have problems with the system.

Immigration reform needs to include a process whereby immi-grants come to our country legally when jobs are available.

Bottom Line

To ensure America’s continued competitiveness, reforms mustprovide employers with access to the appropriate workforceand a reliable, accurate and efficient employment eligibilityverification system.

More InformationWeb: www.nam.org/hrp

E-mail: hrpolicy@nam.org

January 2011

What Manufacturers Want from Immigration

Reform