Bipartisan Senate bill eyes immigration reform for tech workers

A bipartisan team of senators lent a helping hand to the tech sector on Tuesday by introducing legislation to reform the immigration system for high-skilled workers.

The bill, which was first introduced in 2013 but failed to move in Congress, would address a major demand of Silicon Valley firms, who say that current law prevents them from bringing into the U.S. enough skilled programmers to keep up with the demand.

The Immigration Innovation Act is “a commonsense approach to ensuring that those who have come here to be educated in high-tech fields have the ability to stay here with their families and contribute to the economy and our society,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) — who is pushing legislation to promote the U.S. tech sector — said in a statement.

While comprehensive immigration reform appears to be a non-starter in Congress, many tech lobbyists have expressed hope that a more targeted bill to help out their sector could move, even in a new Congress controlled by Republicans.

Read the full article.