Thread: Forgn. Students Struggle to Stay in US After College: Video

Immigration Issue: Foreign Students Struggle to Stay in U.S. After College: Video Report
11 hours ago

The controversy surrounding Arizona's new border control law has immigration policy in the spotlight. While it is impossible to ignore the estimated 12 million undocumented workers in the United States, it is relatively easy to forget a completely different sector of foreign workers anxiously waiting for reform: the thousands of international students who come to the United States each year to study at the nation's top universities. While student visas allow graduates to stay in the United States and work for up to 18 months after earning a degree, obtaining a green card or H-1 work visa is not easy.

A recent report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development revealed that many countries around the world are easing immigration restrictions for highly skilled foreigners. The goal is to attract top talent from around the world to power domestic economies. This trend toward looser regulation for well-educated immigrants has not reached the United States. Click play below to watch a video report on the issue and the situations of several foreign students:

Business leaders like Bill Gates and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York have argued that keeping out these workers is counterproductive. Bloomberg likened the policy to "committing economic suicide." Other proponents have pointed out that companies like Google, Yahoo and eBay were all started by immigrants.

Those opposed to loosening immigration restrictions argue that such opening of the borders could lead to a dependence on foreign labor. If those jobs were left vacant, they say, it would provide incentive for Americans to develop the skills to fill them.

With midterm elections looming in November, it is unlikely that any piece of immigration reform will receive attention before the end of the year.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/31 ... r-graduati

Two things:

1. The entire purpose of the foreign student visa was to educate them here, then send them home to build up and improve their own home countries. Keeping them here is a form of theft. But someone got the idea to use them to buy 'soft influence' and if that meant giving them jobs that should go to our own graduates, they didn't care about that.

2. The US graduates more American-born STEM graduates than it generates STEM jobs for. I spent the last 8 years working at a University and attending graduations. The graduation ceremonies were a mix of foreign and domestic students, but come back 6 months later - the foreign grads were all working, mostly here, and a lot of the American grads were waiting tables and still looking.

Americans already have the skills for all these jobs. It's just that there is a myth of foreign student sharpness and superiority that causes American business to whine if it can't get foreign workers. Older American workers are especially ignored in today's business climate.

I went to school here on a student visa and then got my greencard. When I was going to school the international student office said that if you were an international student you could not get a greencard. My case was different as I was married to a legal resident who became a citizen before I even got my visa. You are also allowed to work for one year to get experience but need pernission from immigration to do so.

Bill Gates should stop commenting on work visas as he is one who hires predominently outside the United States. He used to come to my hometown's university to recruit students before their graduation. Meanwhile students who were taking computer majors in universities are being forced to change majors as there are no jobs here thanks to Mr. Gates and other like him and the companies who out sourced to India or Ukraine.