US – Immigration reform needed to build economy of the future

To build the economy of the future, the United States must create the workforce of the future and U.S. employers need an immigration system that works for them, not against them. That’s the message from the American Council on International Personnel, a Washington DC-based organisation that lobbies for the improvement of regulations on employment-based immigration of highly educated professionals. Its 2013 primer “Navigating the U.S. Employment-based Immigration System”, produced in conjunction with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), is a comprehensive guide for policymakers on the reforms needed to modernize the U.S. employment-based immigration system.

“A generation has passed since the last overhaul of the U.S. immigration system, and the outdated system must be modernized to help U.S. employers compete in the global knowledge economy,” said ACIP Executive Director Lynn Shotwell.

Improved access to employment for spouses and permanent partners is among the key reforms that ACIP proposes. Permits Foundation cooperated with ACIP by providing evidence from its 2008 and 2012 international mobility and dual career surveys and comparative information on regulations in other countries.

Speaking with ACIP about the need to improve regulations for family members, Director of Permits Foundation, Kathleen van der Wilk-Carlton said “Allowing spouses and partners to work is becoming the norm internationally. When speaking to other countries on this topic, we often see that it gets cross-party support, even in countries where broader immigration matters are hotly debated. The combination of international competitiveness and social or human rights arguments has a broad appeal.”

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