Indo-US group raises concerns over immigration bill

WASHINGTON: An Indo-US group has expressed serious reservations against key provisions in the current version of the immigration bill being debated this week in the upper house of the US Congress.

"The bill fails to balance America's legitimate homeland and national security interests against the country's need to continue the current economic expansion of low unemployment and strong growth in the taxpayer base," the United States India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) said.

"Rather than allowing the market and American employers to determine the numbers and the types of workers that meet the employer's specific requirements, the bill provides for an INS dictated point system for family-based immigration," it said in a statement.

The bill, according to the statement, further makes it more difficult for H1B Visa holders, in whom American employers have invested heavily in training and talent management, from applying for Green Cards. This will devastate local economies driven by the tech-sector.

In the age of a 'global hunt for talent', the countries and companies that will do well will be the ones that attract the best and the brightest like the US has always had" USINPAC Chairman Sanjay Puri said in the statement.

"We have a critical shortage of skilled workers here. If we can't find the workers here and cannot provide strong incentives to foreign workers to relocate here, these jobs will simply move overseas to where the talent is," Puri added.

According to a statement, that has not been verified, USINPAC is said to have met the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman John Conyers and Congress woman Zoe Lofgren.