WHITE PAPER SPECIAL VISA

Camden New Jersey is a spectacularly dysfunctional city. It is the  poorest city in the United States . It is generally accepted among policy makers as the most challenging and difficult urban scenario.

After World War II Camden's decline began, with investment and middle class residents migrating to the suburbs. A major riot in 1971 accelerated the emptying out of human and economic capital.

Camden has proved resistant to all attempts to reverse its decline. In 2001 the state of New Jersey dissolved the city government and put Camden under direct supervision of the governor’s office.

The primary goals of the takeover are to stabilize the city politically, economically and socially. Included in the program is $175 million in grants to improve the city infrastructure and provide incentives to attract business. The city of Camden runs a budget deficit of tens of millions of dollars every year, which is subsidized by the state. A benchmark of the takeover legislation is reducing the states subsidy and bringing the city to self-sufficiency by improving the tax base. However, this has not happened, and this year the deficit is higher than ever. There has been no apparent increase in middle class residents or businesses in the city after four years of the state takeover.

The purpose of this paper is to support the proposition that Camden 's woes can be greatly alleviated, even solved, by the introduction of highly educated foreign immigrants to the city. For identity sake, these immigrants would be those who fit the profile of H1b visa holders.

As a "working handle," this proposal creates a new visa we will call the " 4-U.S. visa."

As a working number, this paper assumes 50,000 visa holders migrating to Camden . It also assumes one spouse and one other dependent, for a total of 150,000 new residents to Camden .

The 4-U.S. visa is a special visa that conveys extraordinary benefits to immigrants who play a role in halting and reversing decline in specifically designated cities.

These benefits could include a fast-track to full American citizenship, permanent visa's for spouse, children and parents and a waiver of visa processing fees.

At the height of the tech boom, 195,000 H1b visa holders worked in the United States . At that time, tens of thousands more were on a waiting list to enter the country. This paper assumes there are approximately 300,00 potential H1b visa applicants worldwide.

The H1b visa is a point of controversy, the subject of whether highly educated immigrants take jobs from Americans or not. In promotion of the 4-U.S. visa, references to the H1b visa should be avoided except as analogy to applicant qualifications.  The 4-U.S. visa is not an "end run" around H1b restrictions but a legitimate attempt to economically and socially rejuvenate distressed American cities that skilled Americans and American  businesses have chosen to avoid on thier own accord. It should be emphasized that the 4- U.S. visa fills a critical void that no educated and economically stable Americans have shown a willingness to fill. It is residency vs.employment contingent.

To the average American, Camden , and many inner cities is viewed as too inhospitable to consider relocating to. However, to many skilled visa applicants, urban areas like Camden have historically been areas of opportunity. Ambitious immigrants with strong family values, work and educational ethics have been the founding bedrock of many American cities for over a century. It is hard to imagine any prosperous America cities without this legacy.

Today, a new worldwide emigration of global talent seeking opportunity in the United States is underway. The backlog waiting lists for skilled workers seeking visa’s to the U.S. is years long.

Camden is 8.8 sq. miles. Assuming a new high density built environment, the city of Camden could support a population of 300,000, which is half the population density of Manhattan .

The average yearly salary of H1b visa holders is $52,000 per year. The aggregate weekly payroll generated in the city, at $1,000 per week x 50,000 would be  $50,000, 000 / week.

The payroll of American citizens and employers moving to Camden to "join" ( as opposed to "work" ) with  the 4-U.S. visa holders could easily match or exceed the payroll total of the visa holders.

Assuming 50,000 properties were upgraded or created to accommodate immigrants, resulting in a $250,000 average assessed value per property, $318,000,000 ( the city's portion of the tax rate ) annually would go toward the city tax base. This does not include the property tax for new businesses in the city, or American citizens moving to the city.

In general, it is not necessarily true, the idea that talent migrates to sector clusters or businesses migrate to talent clusters. Rather, it depends on the circumstance. Businesses will migrate to desired talent pools whether it is sixty miles up the turnpike or across the globe if the talent is immobile and fixed in place. Conversely, if desirable businesses are fixed in place in a cluster, mobile talent will gravitate to it.

Regarding the 4-U.S. visa cluster, talent will be concentrated, fixed and immobile, in numbers large enough to create a critical mass and irresistible gravity to hi-tech businesses.

SUPPORTERS OF LIFTING THE H1B CAP:

President Bush

Bill Gates

The Essential Worker Immigration Coalition

Jack Krumhotz, Microsoft's managing director of government affairs claims the H1b cap has severely hampered Microsoft's ability to hire the best and the brightest.

Other prominent supporters of increased educated immigration should be enlisted, from the public and private sectors, to form a united front and a irresistible, compelling argument in support of the 4 - U.S. visa.

CAMDEN LAND and DREAM