The H-1B visa "impasse" should be the "easiest" of all the "controversial elements" of proposed immigration reform for Congress to fix, said Tom Giovanetti, Institute for Policy Innovation president, in a Thursday blog post.
Moving H-1B visa allocations from the current first-come, first-served system of "arbitrary" caps "to a market-clearing auction should settle the debate over our economy's demand for skilled immigrant labor, add to economic growth, and provide a revenue source to fund further immigration reform," he said.
"If H-1B visas were auctioned to employers each year in a sealed bid process, with the bids allocated from highest to lowest until the available permits were exhausted, supply and demand would establish the market-clearing price for the right to hire a skilled immigrant worker," he said.
"Because of the likely higher fees resulting from the auction mechanism, employers would have no incentive to hire an immigrant worker if an equivalent American worker were available."