Improving Opportunities for New Americans Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8046 To direct the Secretary of Labor, in coordination with other agencies, to conduct a study on the factors affecting the employment opportunities in the United States of immigrants and refugees who have professional credentials obtained in foreign countries, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 14, 2020 Mr. KATKO (for himself and Mr. MCADAMS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To direct the Secretary of Labor, in coordination with other agencies, to conduct a study on the factors affecting the employment opportunities in the United States of immigrants and refugees who have professional creden- tials obtained in foreign countries, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Opportuni- 4 ties for New Americans Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8046.IH H8046 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8046 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The United States has a long history of wel- 3 coming individuals of diverse national backgrounds 4 who legally travel to the United States seeking op- 5 portunity and prosperity. 6 (2) Immigrants and refugees in the United 7 States bring a diverse range of professional back- 8 grounds that strengthens the workforce of the 9 United States and benefits American businesses. 10 (3) The underutilization of the skills and expe- 11 rience of immigrants and refugees, often referred to 12 as brain waste, comes at a significant cost to the 13 economy of the United States and to immigrant 14 families. 15 (4) In 2016, researchers at the Migration Pol- 16 icy Institute found that nearly 2 million immigrants 17 and refugees with college degrees in the United 18 States were relegated to low-skilled jobs or were un- 19 able to find work. 20 (5) On an annual basis, this underutilization is 21 estimated to result in more than $10 billion in unre- 22 alized tax receipts from Federal, State, and local 23 governments, and over $39 billion in unrealized 24 wages for college-educated immigrants and refugees. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8046.IH H8046 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8046 IH (6) Many factors contribute to brain waste, in- 1 cluding language barriers, limits on the recognition 2 of international degrees and credentials, the accessi- 3 bility of relicensing processes, and the availability of 4 professional networks and assistance in finding suit- 5 able employment. 6 (7) In the interest of strengthening the econ- 7 omy of the United States and ensuring consistent 8 opportunities for the realization of the full potential 9 of immigrant and refugee families, substantive ef- 10 forts must be made to analyze and address the scope 11 of brain waste in the United States. 12 SEC. 3. STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYMENT OP- 13 PORTUNITIES FOR IMMIGRANTS AND REFU- 14 GEES WITH PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS 15 OBTAINED IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 16 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall 18 conduct a study on the factors affecting employment 19 opportunities in the United States for applicable im- 20 migrants and refugees with professional credentials 21 obtained in countries other than the United States. 22 (2) COORDINATION.—The Department of Labor 23 shall conduct this study in coordination with the 24 Secretary of State, the Secretary of Education, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8046.IH H8046 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8046 IH Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec- 1 retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Se- 2 curity, the Administrator of the Internal Revenue 3 Service, and the Commissioner of the Social Security 4 Administration. 5 (3) WORK WITH OTHER ENTITIES.—The Sec- 6 retary of Labor shall seek to work with relevant non- 7 profit organizations and State agencies to use the 8 existing data and resources of such entities to con- 9 duct the study in paragraph (1). 10 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The study under subsection (a)(1) 11 shall include the following: 12 (1) An analysis of the employment history of 13 applicable immigrants and refugees admitted to the 14 United States in the last 5 years. This analysis shall 15 include, to the extent practicable, a comparison of 16 the employment applicable immigrants and refugees 17 held prior to immigrating to the United States with 18 the employment obtained in the United States, if 19 any, since the arrival of such applicable immigrants 20 and refugees. This analysis shall also note the occu- 21 pational and professional credentials and academic 22 degrees held by applicable immigrants and refugees 23 prior to immigrating to the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8046.IH H8046 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8046 IH (2) As assessment of any barriers that prevent 1 applicable immigrants and refugees from using occu- 2 pational experience obtained outside the United 3 States to obtain employment opportunities in the 4 United States. 5 (3) An analysis of existing public and private 6 resources assisting applicable immigrants and refu- 7 gees who have professional experience and qualifica- 8 tions obtained outside the United States with using 9 such professional experience and qualifications to ob- 10 tain skill-appropriate employment opportunities in 11 the United States. 12 (4) Policy recommendations for better enabling 13 applicable immigrants and refugees who have profes- 14 sional experience and qualifications obtained outside 15 the United States to use such professional experi- 16 ence and qualifications to obtain skill-appropriate 17 employment opportunities in the United States. 18 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 19 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 20 submit to Congress and make publically available on the 21 website of the Department of Labor a report that de- 22 scribes the results of the study conducted under subsection 23 (a)(1). 24 (d) DEFINITIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8046.IH H8046 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8046 IH (1) APPLICABLE IMMIGRANTS AND REFU- 1 GEES.—For the purposes of this section, the term 2 ‘‘applicable immigrants and refugees’’ means individ- 3 uals who are— 4 (A) aliens that are lawfully present and 5 authorized to be employed; or 6 (B) naturalized citizens born outside of the 7 United States and its outlying possessions. 8 (2) OTHER TERMS.—Except as otherwise de- 9 fined in this subsection, terms used in this section 10 have the definitions given such terms under section 11 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 12 U.S.C. 1101(a)). 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8046.IH H8046 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS