WASHINGTON: A bill to create a permanent visa programme for foreigners with advanced science and technical degrees cleared the House of Representatives yesterday, the latest salvo in the broader fight over US immigration reform.
The Republican-backed measure would reserve 55,000 permanent residence visas for foreign graduates of US universities with master’s and doctoral degrees in the “STEM” disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math.
Many Democrats including President Barack Obama oppose the bill because it would eliminate an existing programme, often called the green card lottery, which provides visas to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
The bill passed 245-139 in the Republican-controlled House, largely along party lines. But Democrats control the Senate, and a similar bill there has little chance of passing this year.
Texas Republican Representative Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who introduced the “STEM Jobs Act,” said the high-tech visa program would help the United States retain US-trained workers to spur innovation and job creation.
“In a global economy, we cannot afford to educate these foreign graduates in the US and then send them back home to work for our competitors,” Smith said.
Reuters
