(Originally posted at TAOpivot)

Just came across an article via The Next Web talking about all 85,000 H-1B visas snatched up in five days last week. In the article, the writer quotes LA Times saying that, with the lottery system for H-1B visas in place, a foreign engineer working for Microsoft has as much of a chance of getting a work visa as another foreign engineer working for a lesser-known software company. The rest of the article talks about how different legislation has been proposed in the past few months, but all have been shut down by those who are for comprehensive immigration reform.

We at TAOpivot look at articles like the one from The Next Web as good dialogue, but also, not seeing the whole picture. The quotation from LA Times about the two engineers causes us to believe that the LA Times is saying an engineer for Microsoft should have more priority over an engineer working for a smaller firm. We agree that the lottery system for the H-1B visas is disappointing, but have we Americans gone as far as saying "one foreign national is better than the other?" Both engineers deserve equal chance for H-1B visas, regardless of which companies they work for. How are we going to build our economy back if we only focus on making Microsoft bigger and shut out the smaller firms?

We hold the same argument over how much of The Next Web article focuses only on STEM applicants for the H-1B visa. Granted, STEM is widely talked about right now AND The Next Web focuses on the tech world mostly; however, why should only the STEM foreign nationals deserve priority over foreign nationals studying in other fields? Currently, TAOpivot's clients are geared towards professional business fields, such as finance, marketing, accounting, and MBAs. We are open to students from the STEM fields as well. So why would you ask for TAOpivot to choose one candidate over the other based on their field of study?

What we need from the tech community is their support for comprehensive immigration reform as well. We understand that we need more foreign tech talent on U.S. soil. Yes, we need an immigrant entrepreneur visa like Canada has. But we also need to realize that, to rebuild the economy, we must allow for foreign nationals/immigrants of all backgrounds to be able to contribute to our society.