Cruz: I Am a 'Proponent of Immigration Reform' (Stands By Proposed Increase HB-1 Visas by 5x)

Weekly Standard ^ | April 29, 2015 | Michael Warren

[C19fan]

Republican senator Ted Cruz said Wednesday afternoon he is “long-term optimistic and short-term pessimistic” on the question of passing any immigration reform legislation. Speaking with Javier Palomarez, the president of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Texan presidential candidate said he considers himself a “proponent of immigration reform.” But, Cruz added, political leaders should focus on those aspects that have “bipartisan support.”

[xzins]

I read Cruz’s amendment. I had assumed it was his killer amendment to the comprehensive immigration bill.

This seems to have Cruz doubling down on these H1b visas. That’s insane. We don’t need foreign high techies or low techies. We have plenty of our own qualified and in need of jobs.

[JRandomFreeper]

LOL! only for a few people. This is below the noise on most voter's radar, unless the liars want to confuse illegal immigration with legal immigration.

And anyone that confuses legal and illegal immigration is just a liar. And they have an agenda.

/johnny

[xzins]

An H1b visa is not about illegal immigration

[JRandomFreeper]

There are some liars with an agenda that don't want to point out the difference.

/johnny

[TADSLOS]

And anyone that confuses legal and illegal immigration is just a liar. And they have an agenda

REPEAT AS NECESSARY.

[xzins]

I can’t tell if you’re saying that some folks are misunderstanding Cruz or if you’re saying that Cruz is wrong. Honestly. Can you clarify?

[Sensei Ern]

I am not familiar with the author, but I suspect this is a hit piece in hopes of costing Cruz support in order to increase her candidate’s support.

Look at Cruz’ record and what he said before he became a candidate. He doesn’t support the current idea of immigration reform. What he supports is border protection and law enforcement.

[JRandomFreeper]

It's not 'misunderstanding'. It's falsely representing what he is saying because they have an agenda.

As for me and my house, we have and will give time and money to the Cruz candidacy because he's conservative.

Those misrepresenting Cruz, and acting like this is meaningful to voters are liars.

This is neither the time or place to discuss legal immigration.

Illegal immigration has been discussed, and Cruz wants the current laws followed. Simple enough.

/johnny

[xzins]

I have no problem with legal immigration. I, too, believe Cruz is talking about legal immigration.

I think it is an important issue, and that’s why Cruz is wrong to propose increased H1B visas as he did in his amendment. I am not going to put blinders on and pretend Cruz is right on something when he’s wrong.

Sessions is right, and Cruz should follow Sessions’ lead. We don’t need legal immigration at this time of any variety, and certainly not high tech visas.

To be honest with you, this is the only item on which I disagree with Cruz. He’s right on everything else I’ve heard him speak about.

But, this will injure him if he doesn’t fix it.

[Unmarked Package]

Sen. Cruz Presents Measure to Strengthen, Improve Legal Immigration OFFERS AMENDMENT TO INCREASE H-1B VISAS TO HELP IMPROVE, RETAIN HIGH-SKILLED LABOR FORCE http://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=137

I'm glad someone posted that article. It includes a 10-minute video featuring Cruz speaking in a Senate committee hearing presenting his arguments to increase the cap on H-1B visas for high-skilled, Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics (STEM) graduates as temporary workers.

Incidentally, it's an increase in the CAP he proposes, not an absolute quota for H-1B visas.

You may not agree with the data and studies Cruz cites, but you will gain an understanding of Cruz's thoughts and reasoning and the supporting data behind his conclusions. It certainly filled a void in my understanding of his position. The video makes clear Cruz is thinking of STEM graduates brought into the country for temporary work and a means to retain foreign-born STEM graduates educated in the USA.

I jotted down some bullet points below listening to the video (hope I got them right). You can agree or disagree with Cruz, but at least know where he is coming from on the issue of legal immigration.

Legal immigration for high-skilled, temporary workers, NOT unskilled, uneducated people destined to be dependent on government

90% of H-1B applications for high-skilled STEM jobs

1.9 job openings for every unemployed worker in STEM fields, more than 230,000 advanced-degree STEM jobs will go unfilled by 2018

24 of top 50 venture-backed companies had at least one immigrant founder. More than 40% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children, employ more than 10 million people and generate revenue in excess of $4.2 trillion

Immigrant entrepreneurs start 17% of all new businesses in USA

25% of Engineering and Technology companies started in past decade were founded by immigrants

For every additional 100 H-1B workers, 183 new jobs are created for U.S. citizens

Bottom line: Encourages economic growth and creates new jobs in America

[zeugma]

OMG. Sharepoint is where perfectly good information goes to die.

[bamahead]

And while that all sounds good, where is the proof?

Plenty of info and graphs at the following URL if you care to read:

http://cis.org/no-stem-shortage

The findings in this analysis are consistent with other examinations of the STEM labor market. We find no evidence of a general shortage of STEM workers. In 2012, there were more than twice as many people with STEM degrees (immigrant and native) as there were STEM jobs — 5.3 million STEM jobs vs. 12.1 million with STEM degrees. Only one-third of natives who have a STEM degree and hold a job do so in a STEM occupation. Further, one-third of STEM workers do not have a STEM degree, indicating that the supply of STEM workers in many cases is very flexible. Perhaps most important, real wages for almost all categories of STEM workers have shown only modest growth — both hourly and annual — for more than a decade. None of this is consistent with the idea that STEM workers are in short supply.

The number of immigrants with STEM degrees entering the country each year by itself is already more than all of the annual growth in STEM employment. Census Bureau data shows that over the last decade the number of STEM workers has grown on average by 84,000, while more than 129,000 new immigrants with STEM degrees have been allowed to settle in the country each year. At the same time, the number of natives with STEM degrees is increasing by about 115,000 a year. These figures, coupled with the enormous number of STEM graduates already in the country not working in a STEM job, and the fact that many STEM jobs are done by workers without STEM degrees, calls into question the current level of STEM immigration. The large increases in STEM workers pushed by employers and many in Congress seem entirely divorced from what is actually going on in the U.S. labor market.

When formulating policy, elected representatives need to consider the actual conditions in the U.S. labor market, rather than simply responding to pressure from employers in industries that wish to hire large numbers of foreign STEM graduates. In general, STEM jobs still provide a good income and middle-class lifestyle. By allowing in many more immigrants than the labor market has been able to absorb, Congress is almost certainly holding down wage growth and reducing the incentive for native-born Americans to undertake the challenging course work that is often necessary for STEM careers. While employers may find this situation desirable, it is difficult to argue this is the interest of American people as a whole.

There may be a specific geographic area or a highly specialized field in which demand really is outstripping supply. However, it makes little sense to allow public policy to be driven by very narrow interests. If there is some special need in a highly technical field then perhaps a narrowly focused immigration program is necessary. But overall, the data indicate that the supply of STEM workers vastly exceeds the number of STEM jobs, and there has been only modest wage growth in these professions. This reality should inform and shape public policy moving forward.

Also - an article released today on the abuses of both H1B's and also the lesser known B-1 visa type - which is basically an illegal immigration program:

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/04/who_cares_about_abuses_of_the.html

[zeugma]

Sharepoint is a very microsoft-centric information management app. It is almost completely useless unless you are using Windows. Don't know how well it interacts with OSX, but it sucks mightily with Linux. I've never been able to find documents in a sharepoint repository. You pretty much have to know exactly where a document is to find it. Can you tell that I hate microsoft proprietary crap?

[SoConPubbie]

You're kidding, right? Ever hear of supply and demand? How would you like it if we doubled the number of people in your line of work?

So, another strawman argument.

So are you really going to argue with a straight face that adding between 65 thousand and 300 thousand (based on need) is going to "doubled the number of people in your line of work"?

Do you actually know how many IT people are employed in the U.S.?

Somewhere around 3 million.

[thesharkboy]

So how will a vast increase in the number of IT workers help you? How will it help existing American IT workers? If you are really in IT, then why are you arguing for this policy? What’s so special about IT? Why not outsource/insource everything that’s left in every industry?

[xzins]

the Brookings definition classifies occupations according to the level of knowledge in STEM fields that workers need to perform their jobs. This quote is from http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682246/this-is-what-stem-jobs-really-look-like

I want Cruz to back off of this. I'm not going to argue for more legal immigration. It is a kiss of death with voters today.

So, what is the definition of a "STEM" job. All stem means is 'science, tech, engineering, math'. Where are the limitations on that definition?

[xzins]

The site with the Brookings definition of STEM also includes this chart of types of STEM jobs....look at the right side jobs.

[bamahead]

I believe the colloquial “Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile” is appropriate here...

[SoConPubbie]

I want Cruz to back off of this. I'm not going to argue for more legal immigration. It is a kiss of death with voters today.

xzins, and I ask this already knowing your answer, do you want a candidate that is going to fight for issues from a principled positions, because he believes in them, or from a position of what will get him the most votes. We already have that in Walker.

It's not that I think this is the best idea, but I do think it is being stretched out of all proportion by Walker supporters because they think they can use it as a wedge-issue to drive support away from Cruz.

Walker is still toying with the idea of eventually allowing illegals to get citizenship, Cruz is not.

As for me, I may not agree absolutely with everything that Cruz is proposing, but he sure as Hell is better than all the alternatives right now.

[xzins]

I think Cruz is better advised to drop this. It isn’t a matter of votes to me, although voters demolished the democrats or rinos whenever a conservative ran on immigration issues in the last election.

I want Cruz out of this because increased legal immigration in a time of historic low participation in the job market is what is best for America.

Now, Cruz is my candidate. I don’t want him to stumble over something this simple. The man to get advice from on this issue is Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama.