Hillary Clinton’s new technology plan isn’t all good news for millennials, as it could be harder for them to get a job.
Hillary’s plan includes green cards for foreign workers with whom college grads would have to compete, Breitbart reported.
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) released a statement criticizing the plan:
He said that Hillary’s plan “embodies a concept that has been recycled by industry year after year as ‘immigration reform,’ and would damage the job prospects of U.S. students.”
Sessions said that “increasing high-skilled over low-skilled immigration will better serve the national interest,” but called for limits.
“Mrs. Clinton’s industry-backed proposal is excessive, and will surely cause damage to the wages and job prospects of many young Americans,” he said.
The H-1B visa system in place provides visas for those with STEM degrees and also allows them to work in non-science jobs that can be linked to science or math.
Employers are able to hire workers through the use of the Optional Practical Training Program, which allows foreign graduates from American universities to remain and work.
Breitbart highlighted Rice University as an example.
“We are very supportive of giving international students more opportunities because they are our alums, they are our graduates, they are the ones that are going to get better jobs because the companies are going to see that there’s more longitude to it,” Adria Baker, director of Rice University’s office for international students, said.
Maggie Tang, who graduated Rice in 2015, spoke of the relaxed immigration policies in the United States.
“The primary reason I chose the U.S. was exactly that it offers better opportunities than other countries, whose immigration policies may be stricter,” she told The Rice Thresher.
Hillary’s plan isn’t entirely new, as President Obama has been criticized for providing about five million new visas for foreign graduates each year.
That “Hillary would ‘staple’ a green card to STEM masters and Ph.D.s from accredited institutions—enabling international students who complete degrees in these fields to move to green card status,” doesn’t help the situation for college grads though, no matter how much college loan debt she forgives.
