Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank our wonderful Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee chair for her tremendous work over the years on all issues related to immigration and for her leadership on this particular issue.
I am very proud to rise in strong support of H.R. 1044, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, to provide relief to thousands of families that have been waiting for decades in employment visa backlogs. Among Indian nationals, the wait is upwards of 70 years.
I also want to thank the ranking member of the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee for his support, as well.
This is a truly bipartisan bill because these long backlogs are a result of our broken, outdated immigration system, and they are affecting States across the country. Despite the high demand for employment-based green cards, the system hasn't been updated in nearly 30 years.
This bill solves one piece, by making sure that our colleagues and our neighbors who have been working in our tech sector and our hospitals, innovating in our communities can stay with a roadmap to citizenship.
But, Mr. Speaker, our work is not done. We cannot tolerate the fact that we have no orderly functioning process for people to come to America, whether it be for family unity, to bring their talents to our economy, to serve the needs of our economy, or to seek safety.
This bill, and the fact that we have 300 cosponsors on it, reminds me of another time when there were 68 bipartisan votes in the United States Senate in 2013 for a comprehensive immigration reform bill, and I deeply hope that, as we pass this bill off the floor with bipartisan support, that we can get back to the place where we can once again agree on a bipartisan basis that comprehensive immigration reform benefits our country, benefits our future, and is absolutely necessary.
So I thank so much, again, Chairwoman Lofgren for her fierce determination and her years of service, and I look forward to passing this bill off the floor of the House.
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