Administration Should Take a Careful, “Mend It, Don’t End It” Approach to Implementing President’s H-1B Order, Says Leading Tech-Policy Think Tank, Or It Risks Hampering Innovation and Growth

WASHINGTON—The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading U.S. science and tech policy think tank, today released the following statement from its president, Robert D. Atkinson, regarding President Trump’s executive order on H-1B visas:

We hope the goal of President Trump’s executive order on the H-1B program is “mend it, don’t end it.” Reforming the program could help improve its effectiveness in attracting the world’s best and brightest. Continuing to do that is vital, because, as ITIF found last year, 46 percent of the most important U.S. innovators are immigrants or the children of immigrants.

We welcome proposals to make the program more effective. For example, replacing the H-1B lottery with a more merit-based system could advance the program’s goals of attracting people with advanced STEM skills. We also welcome efforts to root out abuse, better enforce the existing rules, and increase the salary requirements, as long as we continue to welcome highly qualified STEM workers.

On the other hand, some of the ideas that have been suggested, such as requiring applicants to advertise job openings for an extended period of time to prove conclusively that no U.S. workers are available could be so onerous that it renders the program ineffective. We are talking about fast-moving industries. Companies get opportunities, and they have to jump on them. Delaying them for too long would be bad for innovation, job creation, and growth.

Similarly, ending the H-4 visas that allow spouses of H-1B workers to also work here would reduce the quality of foreign applicants to the H-1B program while producing no benefits for U.S. workers. It’s a fallacy to suggest that H-4 workers supplant American workers in domestic jobs, because there isn’t a fixed amount of work to be done in the economy. To the contrary, if we add more highly skilled workers, then we’ll generate more growth and create more jobs for everyone.

ITIF will continue closely monitoring any new rules governing H-1B visas and high-skilled immigration as a whole. We will continue to make policy recommendations based on empirical evidence about how the program is performing.