Expert: H-1B Reform Is A "Political Conundrum" For Biden

Rikha Sharma Rani, Politico, Dec. 19, 2021

"[R]eform is going to prove tricky for a president who campaigned as a champion for both workers and immigrants. Because while many pro-labor groups say the program lines the pockets of the likes of Google and Facebook at the expense of American workers, immigration advocates, along with business interests, oppose measures to rein it in, saying that doing so will hurt American competitiveness by narrowing access to a badly needed pipeline of high-skilled talent. Politically, H-1B reform is pegging two powerful Democratic constituencies against each other. Meanwhile, getting anything through a sharply divided Congress won’t be easy. ... So far, Biden has walked a fine political line, not saying too much but embracing some moderate reforms behind the scenes — trying to navigate what Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell University calls “a political conundrum for the administration.”