The Senate is continuing its work on reviewing S. 744, “the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013.” The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), has held several sessions, known as mark-ups, in which they have made substantive changes to the legislation. In between the formal sessions, compromises are being reached in closed-door meetings. The goal of these continued negotiations is to achieve bipartisan report before the bill is voted on by the committee and sent to the full Senate for consideration.
Last week, we hosted a webinar with two of Washington’s experts on immigration reform. Alix Burns, founder of Bay Bridge Strategies, and Dan Turrentine, co-chair of Compete America, walked us through the provisions of the legislation that address high-skilled immigration, along with some of its political challenges. You can view the webinar and learn more about our guest speakers by clicking here.
In addition, CompTIA has sent two letters to the Hill on immigration reform. The first was a multi-association letter that discussed S. 744 more broadly and expressed industry support for the efforts being made. The second, which was sent on behalf of CompTIA and TechVoice, expressed our support for two new visas created by the legislation: a STEM visa and an INVEST visa. These new visas are critical, as they ensure that businesses of all sizes have access to the best and the brightest talent from around the world. At this juncture, it is crucial that we continue to express our support to those who are fighting the high-skilled fight. Despite the bipartisan nature of the high-skill reforms, there are still a lot of differences that need to be worked out. We will continue to let our TechVoice partners know of opportunities to express support as the process continues.
