Rep. Schneider Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen Health Workforce

Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10) introduced bipartisan legislation to support visas for foreign-born doctors currently serving among the American healthcare workforce and additional visas for foreign-born nurses to come serve in the U.S.

The legislation's original cosponsors include Reps. Cole (OK-04), Bacon (NE-02), and O'Halleran (AZ-01).

The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act would reallocate visas previously authorized by Congress that have not currently been used. Of these, 15,000 visas would be reallocated for foreign-born physicians and 25,000 visas for foreign-born nurses. This legislation would ensure durable immigration status for this vital workforce while meeting the demands posed by the current public health crisis.

"Many of our communities have been facing a critical shortage of nurses, doctors and other qualified health care workers for a long time, and the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated the problem," said Rep. Schneider. "Immigrant nurses and doctors have long been an integral part of our health care system, and during this public health crisis, these highly trained, dedicated health professionals can make a life-saving difference. I am proud to introduce this legislation to enable more qualified physicians and nurses to meet the needs of our communities. The strong bipartisan, bicameral support for this bill shows it is a common sense response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and I urge all my colleagues to join us in this effort."

Individuals approved for visas under this legislation would still be required to meet the licensing requirements, pay required filing fees, and clear rigorous national security and criminal history background checks before they are eligible to receive recaptured green cards. Employers of these medical professionals would also need to attest that the immigrant medical professional has not displaced and will not displace an American worker.

Click here for more about the legislation.

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