Who ever thought Silicon Valley and immigration reform should ever be in the same sentence? The two are more intertwined than you may think.
Because of the great talent pool of foreign workers, the tech industry is on the front line for an immigration reform bill that has already passed the senate. The industry want more green cards and a higher visa cap so more foreign workers can be hired. In fact, Intel executive?Peter Muller says, ?I think from our perspective, failure is not really an option…” In the weeks to come, tech lobbyists will meet with House Republicans about the upcoming bill. One topic of discussion is the Skills Visa Act. This act would give companies more freedoms to discuss wages with immigrant employees. This isn’t the first time Silicon Valley attempted to flex it’s political muscles. In 2007, immigration reform did not land in their favor, and they haven’t forgotten. In the past couple of years, they’ve also been vocal about piracy issues, but that’s another subject for another time.
But I gather two issues behind this, and not too many people are going to acknowledge this. One, the tech industry is more powerful than we often give it credit for. This day and age, it controls much of what we do. So it’d be interesting if Muller and other lobbyists can persuade the house to pass this bill. Secondly, and I don’t mean to sound xenophobic, but what about American workers? Is our education system in this country so lacking that tech companies have to fight this hard to get talented foreign employees? I read somewhere that many tech jobs are going to go empty because graduates lack the skill to do them well. So maybe we need to look at our own system. Just a thought. What are some other hidden issues behind this lobbying?