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H-1B Visas

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Every year H-1B visas allow thousands of highly-skilled foreign workers to take positions in specialty occupations in the United States, as companies compete to fill jobs in a variety of sectors, including technology, engineering and general business. Brookings experts examine questions around the number of H-1B visas issued every year, how the program can better address labor market needs, and if it can help America maintain its global competitiveness.

97-year-old Mercedes Rosa Ruiz Mejia (front L) from Nicaragua joins over 5,000 other immigrants waving U.S. flags after taking the oath of citizenship during a naturalization ceremony to become new citizens of the U.S. in Los Angeles. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

Podcast | Brookings Cafeteria Podcast

U.S. Immigrants and Prospects for Immigration Reform

September 27, 2013, Audrey Singer and Fred Dews

America's foreign-born population is over 13 percent of the total population, the largest share of immigrants since the 1920s. Over 40 million immigrants—documented and undocumented, young and old—live and work in towns and metropolitan areas throughout the country. Audrey Singer puts today's immigrant population into historical context, explains where they live now and how they contribute to their communities, and looks ahead to the prospect for comprehensive immigration reform at the federal and local levels.

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Refine by: Immigration | Labor Policy | Competitiveness | U.S. Economic Performance

  • In the News

    What we haven’t really achieved in our system after decades of thinking about [immigration policy] is how to adjust the admissions policy to better suit our economic needs in something closer to real time. That is going to be part of the discussion in the next couple of months. Do we make changes based on some market demand, and how do we measure that? Do we set out knowing what we want and then adjust our policies?

    February 19, 2013, Audrey Singer, Bloomberg

  • In the News

    [The H-1B visa issue] is not just an issue for Microsoft and Intel, it’s an issue for the American heartland. There are a lot of companies that need specialist skills, especially in STEM fields, and they just can’t find them locally so they have to search globally. —Neil Ruiz

    February 11, 2013, Financial Times

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H-1B Visas

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