TechNet Joins Other Organizations in Support of the Visa-Related Immigration Provisions Included in the Reconciliation Bill

Washington, D.C. – TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, joined 94 other organizations in a letter supporting the inclusion of visa-related immigration provisions in the budget reconciliation bill, including green card recapture and advanced adjustment of status provisions.

Analysis by the Niskanen Center found that the visa-related immigration provisions included in the House budget reconciliation package would recover about one million previously available immigrant visa numbers; offer an early opportunity to adjust status to millions more who are stuck in the backlogs; add $4 trillion to the U.S. GDP over ten years; and add hundreds of billion dollars in revenue to state, local, and federal government.

“Recapturing green cards will allow the U.S. to allocate more than one million green cards already authorized by Congress that have gone unused since 1992 due to administrative error and inefficiency. The ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic has significantly exacerbated the visa backlogs and drastically curtailed visa issuance,” the groups wrote. “Provisions in the House reconciliation bill would provide an exemption from annual and per-country limitations upon the payment of a supplemental fee, allowing those with an approved immigrant visa petition who have been in line for two or more years to become permanent residents more rapidly.”

The letter went on to say, “Recapture alone would provide more than half a million green cards to individuals and families who have already built lives in the U.S. and those whose rights are restricted by the terms of their temporary visas, including their legal status being tied to a specific employer. Provisions in the House reconciliation bill would also guarantee work authorization to those individuals’ spouses and children, while also preventing their children, who have grown up in the U.S., from becoming undocumented when they turn 21 years of age.”

The letter was sent to Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, and Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

Read the full letter here.