Fourth Annual IEEE-USA Career Fly-In
7-8 April 2008

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Last year, Congress tried to pass comprehensive immigration reform. They failed.

In 2008 immigration will be back on the table, but this time Congress is likely to tackle smaller parts of the broader immigration issue. Foremost among these will be high-skill immigration. Since about half of the people admitted into the United States each year under skill-based visa programs work in technology fields, this issue is uniquely important to engineers.

On 7 and 8 April, 2008 we will make sure Congress get it right.

IEEE-USA invites all IEEE members in the United States to join us in Washington, D.C. for our Fifth-Annual Career Fly-In. Come, meet your legislators, explain your profession, and discuss high-skill immigration and its impact on your career.

IEEE-USA will arrange private meetings with between participants and their elected officials. These meetings will give you the opportunity to express your views on high-skill immigration directly to people who will be making immigration law.

Political experts agree that face-to-face meetings with voters are the best and most effective way to educate and influence Congress.

Starting on the afternoon (so you can fly in that morning) of 7 April, IEEE-USA staff will brief all participants on current legislation, political trends immigration law and how to discuss all of this with legislators. Then on 8 April, participants will travel to Capitol Hill for private meetings in their legislators’ offices.

All IEEE members are welcome and encouraged to attend. No political experience is necessary. Some of our best advocates in years past had never met a politician before and most participants will have had limited exposure to the political system.

Funding

Most fly-in participants will be paying their own travel expenses. IEEE-USA will be providing some meals to all participants and has structured the event to minimize travel expenses.

IEEE-USA will be able to provide funding for a limited number of engineers to attend this event. Sponsored participants will be chosen based on the political importance of their legislators. In the past, some sections and regions have also been willing to sponsor a limited number of participants. Contact your section and region leaders directly for more details.

Current Situation

There has been a shift in Congress over the past three years. Rather than broad support for the H-1B program, Congress has taken a much more skeptical view of these temporary visas. For three years now, Congress has resisted attempts to expand the program, despite aggressive lobbying by high-tech executives. In 2007, there was only a weak attempt to expand the program.

This lack of support does not reflect a belief in Congress that the H-1B program is unnecessary. On the contrary most legislators still think that the program is essential. Rather, Congress is becoming aware of flaws in the H-1B visa program, such as weak enforcement and poor worker protections. This has led some legislators to start looking for ways to improve the program. This is likely going to be Congress' focus in 2008: reforming and expanding the H-1B program.

IEEE-USA does not want to just reform the H-1B program: we want to replace it. We believe that temporary visas are a bad deal for the U.S. economy and for workers no matter how the visa programs are structured. We prefer immigration visas, which give workers the right to live in the United States as long as they like. Workers using these visas are harder to exploit than temporary workers, even without complicated oversight.

IEEE-USA's strategy in 2008 is to convince Congress to stop focusing on the H-1B program and start focusing on the EB visa. EB visas are green cards. They allow foreigners with advanced skills and educations to become Americans quickly - but there aren't enough of them. Each year about twice as many H-1B visas are issued to workers as EB visas, reflecting Congress' fondness for the temporary visa.

Since 2008 is an election year, it will be difficult to get any controversial bill passed. But high-skill immigration may be an exception. There is broad bi-partisan support for making it easier for talented foreigners to become citizens. Our job is to explain to Congress that the H-1B visa cannot do this - but that the EB visa can.

Fly-In Schedule (tentative)

IEEE-USA will not know your exact itinerary on Tuesday until your meetings are scheduled. Historically most of these meetings occur in the morning and virtually all before 3:00 p.m. If travel requirements demand that you leave D.C. before 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, please let IEEE-USA know so that we can arrange your Hill visit schedule to accommodate your travel schedule.

Contacts:

Questions regarding fly-in logistics or Congressional meetings:
Russ Harrison
IEEE-USA
(202) 530-8326
r.t.harrison@ieee.org

Questions regarding Congress, legislation and the Career & Workforce Policy Committee:
Vin O’Neill
IEEE-USA
(202) 530-8327
v.oneill@ieee.org

Updated:  19 February 2008
Contact: Russ Harrison, r.t.harrison@ieee.org