A group of legislators Held a congressional hearing called“Oh, Canada! How outdated US immigration policies can push top talent to other countries” is a misspelling of the national anthem.

On the surface, this incident was meant to learn lessons from Canada’s experience, but in the end it focused on the factors hindering US immigration reform.

The Democratic politicians who organized the hearing warned that there would be a reverse outflow of talent. They said that the United States must be easier to attract skilled workers.

California State Assemblyman Zoe Lofgren’s constituency includes Silicon Valley, and he shared a news article That said The growth rate of technology jobs in her area is slower than in Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton.

She blames the US immigration system for being confusing—defined by lottery, annual visa caps, and company-driven candidate sponsorship.

“No wonder talented workers move to Canada?” Lovegren asked.

“We are stuck in a time warp. It’s like driving around with a paper map from 30 years ago, while others can easily navigate through the turn-by-turn navigation of a smartphone. As a result, we are behind.”

She told the story of an alumnus from Stanford University, her alma mater. She has rare computer skills; he worked as a temporary worker in the United States for many years; he paid 4 million US dollars in taxes in the United States; nevertheless, he never got permanent Right of abode.

He eventually moved to Canada.

Another Democrat said angrily that some of the ideas that Canada uses to attract educated workers are actually American ideas — ideas that the United States has never implemented.

Representative Jerry Nadler of New York specifically mentioned Canada’s visa program Start-up companies Based on a part of ten years ago American Act This has stalled in Congress.

He also mentioned Canadian Express Entry Visa with Two-week visa For coveted workers, and Global talent flow The company’s plan.

A glimpse of a stalled debate

“Those who have failed in the U.S. immigration system are now turning to Canada,” Nadler said.

“The results paid off-Toronto earned the nickname’Silicon Valley of the North’.”

Hearings provide evidence of why U.S. reform efforts have succeeded Keep procrastination– Even nowAt the meeting of the House Judiciary Committee, the issues raised by the parties were obvious.

The political parties in the country have conflicting priorities.

Republican politicians are facing pressure from voters to tighten the southern border and control immigration as their primary goals. At the same time, Democrats prioritize providing access to citizenship for past immigrants.

As a result, the parties have been unable to reach an agreement on any plan that would allow both parties to agree. Need an absolute majority Pass both houses of Congress.

Donald Trump Also talked about About imitating Canada’s immigration points system. It has nowhere to go. Just like it did during the time of Barack Obama and George W Bush.

As extensive reform efforts seem to be in trouble again, the Democrats hope to take advantage of budget case With some limited changes, it may be possible to grant young immigrant status Known as a dreamer.

At the hearing, Republicans recommended that Democrats regress their priorities.

Some people complained about its focus: They said that lawmakers should talk about Mexico and Republicans, not Canada. The immigration crisis on the southern border.

Copy Canada? why?

A California Republican said that the majority party is pursuing wrong ideas.

Tom McClintock said the Democrats are focusing on the immigration reforms that the corporate world has dreamed of-there are opportunities to bring in more foreign workers who can hire them at low wages, he said.

“This Congress… ranks the Americans last,” McClintock said. “And it puts foreign labor and large companies… in the first place.”

He also digs into the view that the United States should rely on Canada to learn economic lessons: He said that the United States has higher Economic Growth Much higher than Canada before the pandemic worker’s salary, And well below unemployment rate.

McClintock said: “Comparing their economy with ours for some reason seems unattractive to me.” “But it might just be me.”

In addition, the immigration level in the United States is actually still much higher than the absolute number in Canada.The U.S. attracts slightly more immigrants From canada Than canada Attracted from the U.S..

On the other side of the ledger, the U.S. immigration rate is Significant slowdown In recent years, the proportion of immigrants that the country has attracted to the total population is much lower than that of Canada.

During the Trump administration, as Canada has experienced Biggest spike In decades of skilled migration.

What the witness said

Witnesses at the hearing were shocked by the current trajectory.

Stuart Anderson, a former official of the George W. Bush administration and executive director of the Washington Regional Trade and Immigration Think Tank, said the number of Indian students in American universities has dropped sharply, while the number of Canadian students has soared.

“Canada believes that immigration is essential to economic growth,” Ready text Anderson’s remarks.

“Since then, the world has changed [the last major U.S. immigration reform in] 1990. The U.S. immigration policy has not yet. “

He warned of potential long-term consequences. He said his own research shows that immigrants create more than half of US $1 billion startups.

He said that all the key players who helped create Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine are immigrants from the United States-including those born in Canada. Derek Rossi Harvard University.

Another eyewitness lamented that in all places, the United States still uses paper systems instead of computers to process immigration applications. She said this would cause delays.

Jennifer Grundy Young, the head of a technology trade organization, said that the mentality of the US system is usually based on detecting fraud, not looking for talent.

She offers Written testimony It includes the story of a colleague and her husband. They spent 18 years in the United States on work visas, never managed to obtain permanent residency, and then moved to Toronto, where they recruited others to come to Canada.

“There is no doubt that Canadians are here to participate in the competition,” said Grundy Young, the chief executive of the North American Technical Council.