American IT industry against Senate immigration Bill

The US high-tech industry has opposed the immigration Bill being debated in the Senate aimed at dealing with an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, saying the measures as currently drafted would harm the American technology industry.

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), a lobbying group representing high-tech companies, says the Bill won't do enough to compensate for a shortage of skilled workers and will make it more difficult to hire qualified people from overseas.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, ITAA President and CEO, Phillip J Bond, said America's economy is strong and vibrant, but the country's future competitiveness rests on the ability of firms to recruit globally.

"As you know, the H-1B cap for fiscal year 2008 was reached in April, shutting out US employers from recruiting highly skilled foreign nationals, who are graduating from US institutions with degrees in computer science, engineering, mathematics and other scientific and technical fields," Bond said.

He added that vacancies were going unfilled and highly valued workers are forced to leave the country.