WASHINGTON—Today technology industry trade group ITI, the global voice of the tech sector, released the following statement from President and CEO Dean Garfield following a roll-out of the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act at the White House by President Donald Trump and Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.):
“Universally there is agreement that our immigration system is broken, and the warning lights for needed reforms have been flashing for so long the bulbs are burnt out,” Garfield said. “Access to talent is a challenge for the tech industry because not only can we not find enough STEM-skilled Americans to fill open roles, our broken system stops us from keeping the best and brightest innovators here in the U.S. and instead we lose out to our overseas competitors. This is not the right proposal to fix our immigration system because it does not address the challenges tech companies face, injects more bureaucratic dysfunction, and removes employers as the best judge of the employee merits they need to succeed and grow the U.S. economy.”
ITI noted that technology companies face a very real need for talent or they face losing their edge to competitors overseas, demonstrating both the necessity and limitations of the current immigration system, and the “values and value immigrants bring as a source of American optimism and exceptionalism.”
# # #