Earlier this week, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the “Securing Knowledge Innovation and Leadership” (SKIL) bill (S. 2691). This stand-alone immigration reform bill would hone in on attracting and retaining a greater number of highly skilled and educated workers from abroad.

The SKIL bill includes provisions that:

• Increase the H-1B visa cap for highly skilled workers from 65,000 to 115,000, the same level as in 1999 and 2000;
• Exempt U.S.-educated professionals—those with a master’s degree or higher—from the annual cap;
• Increase the employment-based green card cap to 290,000 from 140,000 and give a range of preferences to highly skilled and educated workers; and
• Streamline application procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays while assuring that sufficient background checks are completed prior to visa issuance.

Why focus only on highly skilled workers? As Sen. Cornyn noted on the Senate floor on May 2, 2006:

I am introducing the SKIL bill because I don’t believe enough attention has been focused on legal immigrants, especially the highly skilled workers who contribute to our economy and comply with our laws.

Debates over the treatment of illegal immigrants already in this country and border security have bogged down the immigration debate. Many lawmakers in the House prefer to deal first with border security alone. The Senate, on the other hand, is moving toward a comprehensive immigration reform that deals with both border security and workforce issues. The SKIL bill could bridge the divide between lawmakers. Even the most partisan lawmakers in this debate, on the security-only side and the comprehensive reform side, would agree that insourcing talented workers is preferable to outsourcing work abroad when we do not have enough highly skilled workers domestically.

Immigration reform legislation should be comprehensive and should cover employment visa, border security, and citizenship issues. If the Senate and the House can’t reach a compromise on comprehensive reform legislation, the SKIL bill warrants serious consideration.