Pierre-Jean Cobut represents everything members of both parties in Congress and the President talk about when they envision who America’s immigration policies should attract. He’s a Stanford Business School graduate who, along with his business co-founder Elad Ferber, is creating a wearable technology that can improve the lives of millions of Americans. And his company has the potential to employ a great many Americans. But instead of a red carpet, Mr. Cobut is sweating over whether the immigration system will threaten his company’s future. His excellent piece in today’s issue of The Hill tells his story and is well worth readying.
If members of Congress who talk about being pro-LEGAL-immigration really mean it and it’s not just a fig leaf hiding actual anti-immigrant feelings, they need to move skilled worker legislation. There has not been any significant skilled worker immigration bill passed in this country in a decade despite numerous economic studies documenting how critical people like Mr. Cobut are to our collective future. There is widespread agreement on what a good bill would contain. We actually have one pending. If the I-Squared Bill, recently reintroduced in the Senate, were actually brought to the floor of each house for a vote, it would easily pass and the President would sign it. But the bill isn’t moving because the GOP leadership in the House and Senate sees fit to allow anti-immigrant members of each party (including key members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees) to block forward progress on the legislation. Senator McConnell and Speaker Boehner need to bypass those individuals and do what is right for the country (and smart politics as well).
PJ’s friends are working on making sure his story has a good ending (for him as well as for our country). Check it out at http://letpjstay.com/
Happy H-1B Cap Day. May the odds always be in your favor.