Immigration reform will help Washington State’s demand for tech workers

Immigration reform will help Washington State’s demand for tech workers.

On August 6^th, 2014, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported that the Washington State is the 5th fastest growing state in the US for tech jobs, yet there are not enough tech workers. Reporter Rachel Lerman discusses the issue in detail and reports that the common problem preventing companies from expand is not being able to find sufficiently trained tech employees. So what is the solution to this?

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2014/08/washington-named-one-of-fastest-growing-states-for.html?ana=twt

As my regular readers will know, I am a staunch advocate for immigration reform. While the current hot topic is the border crisis and surge of children fleeing desperate situations in Latin America, the issue of broader immigration reform has been sidetracked. All eyes are on President Obama to deal with the border crisis alone as well as to take executive action on providing a solution for the 11 million undocumented people already in the US. I, like so many, await news on this front.

What about the legal immigration? Legal immigration needs be addressed just as desperately as illegal immigration. We need action to fix the broken legal immigration system that prevents businesses, such as Washington State Businesses from hiring talented employees. Newer companies such as Zulily and Zillow continue to put Washington State on the map (Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing are a given of course).

I call on the Obama Administration to ensure that legal immigration is also included in the list of Executive Action. While there is significant limitation on what can be done without Congress, the limits must be explored.