EIG Media Contact: Reuben Francis | [email protected]
Washington, D.C. – The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) commends the introduction of the Heartland Visa Act of 2024, a bold legislative proposal to unlock the full economic potential of struggling communities across America. Sponsored by Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Joe Manchin (I-WV), the bill is based upon EIG’s Heartland Visa proposal to establish a place-based visa program that would attract high-skilled workers and entrepreneurs to participating regions experiencing economic and demographic stagnation.
“The Heartland Visa Act would provide American communities with a powerful new tool for economic growth, innovation, and revitalization,” said EIG President and CEO John Lettieri. “This legislation recognizes that highly skilled immigrants deliver vital benefits to U.S. workers and communities, from new jobs and businesses to higher wages to more tax revenues that support essential local services. Enacting a Heartland Visa is a long-overdue way to ensure that these benefits reach areas of the country left behind by U.S. immigration policy for too long.”
The United States has greatly benefited from high-skilled immigrants. Immigrants launch a quarter of all new businesses annually and contribute significantly to innovation in strategic industries, authoring or co-authoring 30 percent of all patents in fields critical to national and economic security. For these reasons and more, a recent EIG national voter survey found robust support for expanding high-skilled immigration from voters across the political spectrum and in every presidential swing state.
Despite the extensive benefits of high-skilled immigration, the U.S. immigration system falls far short of fully leveraging its potential to spur economic growth. Only 41 percent of international graduates from U.S. bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree programs remain in the country long-term, and those that remain are largely concentrated in a few metropolitan areas. Just 100 out of more than 3,100 counties are home to 74 percent of immigrants with a bachelor’s degree or more. The Heartland Visa can help address this disparity by giving communities a choice to opt-in to a new high-skilled immigration program.
EIG is joined by a wide range of organizations in endorsing the Heartland Visa Act, including Americans for Prosperity, Center for American Entrepreneurship, Council on National Security and Immigration, Engine, Foundation for American Innovation, IFP, Niskanen Center, Pioneer Institute, and The LIBRE Initiative. The Heartland Visa concept was also endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in a bipartisan resolution earlier this year.
To learn more about the legislation, visit Sen. Young’s press release here.
About the Economic Innovation Group (EIG)
The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) is a bipartisan public policy organization dedicated to forging a more dynamic and inclusive American economy. Headquartered in Washington, DC, EIG produces nationally-recognized research and works with policymakers to develop ideas that empower workers, entrepreneurs, and communities.
