MusilloUnkenholt is pleased to report that the HealthcareWorkforce Resilience Act has been reintroduced into Congress. The HWRA is smart, positive legislation thatwill increase the supply of nurses and doctors into the US. These two occupations are among the shortestsupplied occupations by US workers. Musillo Unkenholt and the AAIHR have been working closely with theseoffices for the last two months, assisting congressional staffers draft thislegislation.
If the HWRA becomes law, allnurses and doctors whose visa applications are currently retrogressedimmediately become current. Likewise,any nurse or doctor whose I-140 is filed before 90 days after the expiration ofthe President’sEmergency Declaration on COVID-19 is also expected to have aretrogression-free visa, although there is an overall quota of 25,000 visas forRNs and 15,000 visas for MDs. The legislation contains language asking theUSCIS and Embassies and Consulates to expedite these petitions. The HWRA admirably contains US workerprotections, guaranteeing that no US worker is displaced.
The HWRA has a strong set oforiginal co-sponsors in the Senate: Sens. Durbin, Coons, Lehay (Ds) and Cornyn,Young, Collins (Rs). This is an impressive bipartisan set of Senators withdecades of experience leading legislative initiatives. Companion legislation will be introduced intothe House by U.S. Representatives Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Tom Cole (R-OK-04),Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-01), and Don Bacon (R-NE-02).
Specifically, the HealthcareWorkforce Resilience Act:
* Recaptures unused visas fromprevious fiscal years for doctors, nurses, and their families
* Exempts these visas from countrycaps
* Requires employers to attestthat immigrants from overseas who receive these visas will not displace anAmerican worker
* Requires the Department ofHomeland Security and State Department to expedite the processing of recapturedvisas
* Limits the filing period forrecaptured visas to 90 days following the termination of the President’sCOVID-19 emergency declaration