Business Roundtable supports bipartisan legislation that improves border security, strengthens our workforce and global competitiveness and reduces inflation.

· Strengthening border security is an essential part of any immigration reform.

o Our ineffective border security and safety controls pose an immediate risk to the American people and economy.

o Establishing control over our borders will help protect Americans from illegal drug smuggling, human trafficking and other activities that endanger the homeland and enable lawful goods to flow across the border efficiently and safely.

o BRT supports strong, bipartisan legislation that improves border security measures and legal immigration, while upholding the rule of law.

o Pro-growth immigration reform that addresses our workforce needs, coupled with stronger border security, will help America build the economy of the future.

· Building the innovative and globally competitive economy of the future requires a well-rounded and highly skilled workforce.

o There are millions of open jobs in the U.S., including more than 1 million that require a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degree.

o Highly skilled workers are key to building the economy of the future, and more than 70% of STEM graduates in the U.S. are foreign born.

o America will be at a competitive disadvantage if we fail to recruit and keep highly skilled workers currently in the U.S. and from abroad.

o According to the most recent House Republican China Task Force Report, the U.S. “needs to continue to attract the best and brightest STEM talent from around the world, or risk falling behind in the global race for talent and losing its competitive advantage in innovation.”

· China is winning the battle to attract and retain top international talent.

o China is putting on a full-court press to recruit workers with STEM degrees while the U.S. is creating barriers to attract and keep highly skilled workers.

o By 2025, China will produce more than 77,000 STEM graduates per year compared to 40,000 in the U.S.

o International talent plays a vital role in our national security, with foreign-born STEM degree holders accounting for 50% of the defense industrial base workforce.

o America would be better equipped to fend off cyberattacks if we filled the 700,000 cybersecurity job openings by tapping into the qualified global talent pool.

o We need to incentivize the admittance and retention of the best and brightest to enhance America’s economic leadership and national security.

· Limited, employment-based immigration solutions that balance our workforce needs will help reduce inflation.

o One of America’s great strengths is our ability to recruit hard working and skilled talent from around the world, which helps our companies to grow, create jobs and innovate.

o With the unemployment rate at an all-time low, the current domestic labor pool does not have the capacity to fill the more than 10 million open jobs.

o Most of the job openings are in STEM, farming, hospitality, construction and other industries.

o Reforming the H-2A and H-2B programs to meet the needs of high demand industries, as well as exempting STEM graduates with a master’s or Ph.D. degree from annual green card caps, will help address our labor shortage.

· Failing to address immigrant populations at risk of removal will compound our workforce challenges and is inconsistent with our values.

o More than 800,000 people who grew up here, were educated here and have built the entirety of their lives here are now facing deportation.

o Ninety-four percent of the Dreamer population is currently employed and removing them from the U.S. would cost our economy $11.7 billion each year.

o More than 7 in 10 voters – including 58% of Republican voters – support legislation that creates an earned pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and invests in border security.

o Thousands of Afghan refugees, many of whom risked their lives supporting the U.S., are under threat of losing their job or being deported, which would only exacerbate our workforce shortage.

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