Eliminating Backlogs Act of 2023 would provide greater flexibility to use existing allotted work visas and improve legal immigration
Our Bureau
Washington
A bipartisan bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives so that employment-based visas, currently allocated each year, are properly utilized under existing federal immigration law. Introduced by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi from the Democratic Party and Larry Bucshon, US representative for Indiana’s 8th congressional district, the Eliminating Backlogs Act of 2023 would unleash greater flexibility to use existing allotted work visas that employers desperately need, as told by the two congressmen.
“Even as our country’s high-skilled immigration system helps us draw top talent from around the world, current law caps the number of employment-based visas available based on workers’ country of origin, leaving thousands of visas that would otherwise help our economy unused,” Krishnamoorthi said.
“The legislation is aimed at ending country-based discrimination in high-skilled immigration to ensure use of all allotted visa to draw skilled workers from across the globe to help strengthen the American economy and create jobs while they also continue to invest in the domestic workforce,” he continued.
“Under current federal immigration law, there are a certain number of visas allocated annually for skilled workers, such as doctors and engineers, to ensure our workforce can meet the demands of our economy in Indiana and across the country,” Bucshon said. Unfortunately, bureaucratic policies and delays have prevented hundreds of thousands of these visas from being used, despite a serious need for more skilled workers across the country, he added
The bill helps eliminate this backlog and ensure that visas allocated under existing federal immigration law can be properly used. “This will help support an immigration system that incentivizes and rewards legal applicants and boosts our economy,” said Bucshon.
