State Sponsored Visa Bill Introduced in Senate

Last Wednesday, Senator Ron Johnson and Congressman Ken Buck unveiled the State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2017—legislation that would give states the ability to sponsor temporary work visas. Senator Johnson subsequently introduced a bill of the same name into the Senate where it was co-sponsored by Senator John McCain. The bill is based in part on a policy paper that Sean Rust and I wrote in 2014 for the CATO Institute—"State-Based Visas: A Federalist Approach to Reforming U.S. Immigration Policy."

For commentary on the Johnson-Buck plan, see Shikha Dalmia in The Week, Ilya Somin in The Washington Post, and Jason Riley in The Wall Street Journal.