Visa power, political influence and the big business of labor arbitrage

At the center of one of the most aggressive immigration-lobbying operations in the United States sits a GOP figure few Republican voters know by name, but whose influence reaches deep into the policies that shape America’s labor market. Hima Kolanagireddy is not simply a business executive or Republican Party activist. She occupies multiple roles that, taken together, raise serious questions about conflicts of interest, political access and – most fundamentally – who truly benefits from America’s immigration system.