Fill the need: Work visas at record pace, reform still sorely needed

Businesses across the country, and across virtually all industries, are underperforming because they can’t find enough workers to operate at higher levels. The resulting shortage of goods is leaving the need for many products unmet and is contributing to inflation.

Part of the worker shortage is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but another major factor was the restrictive immigration policies of the previous administration.

The U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services now reports that it likely will issue more employment-based residency visas this fiscal year than any other year in our nation’s history.

That increase, and the benefits it will bring to our lagging economy, is great news, but it still won’t adequately meet businesses’ need for workers, or foreigners’ requests for permission live and work in the United States. Congress still needs to revise our work visa laws to help meet our economic needs.

Current law allows the issuance of up to 140,000 employment-related green cards, as the residency permits are known. Because of delays and other reasons, USCIS already had issued 263,000 work-related green cards this fiscal year as of Aug. 31, CQ-Roll Call reported last week.

This is welcome news, and we hope it represents a commitment from the agency to process visas as quickly and efficiently as possible, without compromising necessary reviews.

While unallocated residency visas based on family requests can roll over to the next year, job-related permits can’t, and tens of thousands of them have gone unused for the past several years. It’s good to see that the administration has stepped up processing of the visas so that more workers, most of them highly skilled, can work in this country to benefit both their families and ours.

However, the need for workers doesn’t disappear simply because the visas weren’t allocated. Congress should allow unused work visas to roll into the next year as well.

Our lawmakers also should eliminate the archaic and unwieldy caps for each nation, which don’t allow for global changes. Some countries such as South Korea, for example, have progressed rapidly since our visa quotas were set, and other countries such as Nicaragua and Venezuela have regressed. Those countries’ problems might bring more refugees to our borders, but not necessarily skilled workers.

The system also doesn’t allow for unused visas from one country to help fill need that residents from other countries could meet. That’s yet another change that needs congressional attention.

Immigration reform usually is seen as one comprehensive issue. In reality it is a huge amalgam of widely different issues and needs. They can’t be addressed all at once, and they don’t have to be. Instead of trying to compile everything into one massive omnibus bill, Congress should address issues that can be addressed, and need to be addressed, quickly even as they work on other aspects of immigration law.

Our economy is suffering from a lack of workers that myriad foreign workers are eager and able to fill. Our representatives should help the diligent people at USCIS address the shortage, and improve the lives of American consumers.