As a Fellow at Cornell University’s Migration and Human Rights Program, Jon Baselice examines how permanent changes to visa quotas interact with workforce needs, the dynamics of permanent and temporary labor certifications, prevailing wage determinations, and other labor-market challenges shaped by migration policy.
“We are working to provide an intellectual backbone for meaningful immigration reform that leaves our country better off,” Baselice said.
It is work that is also deeply informed by his own background.
When the 2008 financial crisis struck, Baselice was in law school at the University of Miami, preparing to enter a profession that seemed to have no future for newly minted attorneys without top-tier credentials or law review experience.
In South Florida, however, immigration law was still thriving.
Baselice took a summer associate position at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, where he focused on corporate immigration work. Upon law school graduation, he then helped Attorney General candidate Pam Bondi to consolidate Republican support in South Florida by campaigning with Marco Rubio, who was in the midst of a senatorial run.
“Politics is a team sport,” Baselice said. “You meet a lot of people, and you do what it takes to get things done.”
At a time when immigration was emerging as a defining national issue, however, Rubio took note of Baselice’s previous experience and asked whether he wanted to join his Senate staff as Legislative Assistant and Counsel overseeing judiciary matters, which included immigration.
Baselice accepted the position and earned a spot as one of Sen. Rubio’s top immigration advisors, playing a key role in the development of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, as well as reform of the US Visa Waiver Program, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, and H-2B Program.
Baselice then joined the US Chamber of Commerce as Vice President of Immigration Policy and now brings his extensive experience in law, legislation, and policy advocacy to the Migration and Human Rights Program, where he studies viable strategies for US labor migration reform.
“This is bigger than winning an academic debate with people who view the world differently than you,” Baselice said. “This is about building solutions that actually work for people and for the country.”