Thread: OPINION:U.S. immigration policy turns away needed brain powe

U.S. immigration policy turns away needed brain power
Ramnath Subramanian / Guest Columnist
Article Launched: 05/08/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


America's immigration policy is miserably off the mark. To exacerbate matters, American politicians seem to lack an understanding of and an appreciation for the global forces that today are defining and shaping the world's economies.

For a country to remain economically competitive, it must cultivate and capture intellectual talent. To achieve the former, American schools and universities have to be topnotch and adhere to exemplary standards. To accomplish the latter, the best and brightest minds from all corners of the globe should be allowed to find easy passage to America's shores.

Sadly, large chunks of American academia are trapped in the skeins of mediocrity. And as for attracting foreign talent, a measly 80,000 H1B temporary visas, allotted by lottery to highly-skilled workers, are all that is available worldwide for aspiring applicants. As a result of this myopic and misguided immigration policy, a large number of extraordinarily gifted people who could make significant contributions to U.S. society are denied the opportunity to work in the United States.

In the past, those disfavored by Lady Luck would have felt wretchedly disconsolate. Today, the picture is vastly different as people comprising the "knowledge base" in developing economies such as that of China and India look not so much to America but to places like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to pursue their dreams.

In 2003, the United States Congress slashed the quota of H1B visas from 200,000 to its current number. Why should a person highly skilled in science, technology, or engineering stand in line like a beggar to gain entry when other countries are putting out welcome mats?

In New Zealand, a liberal immigration policy permits companies to even hand out work visas. The European Union (EU) is not far behind in the new trend to attract global talent. It may, in the near future, use a system of "blue cards" to offer foreign workers a "fast track" to citizenship.

Only America seems to be living in the dark ages.

The EU wants to become "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010." In sharp contrast, caught in an acerbic debate over illegal immigration, and touting ambitions to build walls and fortifications, the U.S. gives the impression of a giant tottering in his steps.

Lose the intellectual edge and America slowly but surely loses its place as the world's economic leader.

Both Silicon Valley and Ivy League universities are testament to the greatness that is achieved when smart minds from the far reaches of the globe converge onto an idealized, fertile plot of land. It is sad that America's legal immigration policy is in shambles at precisely the moment when the rest of the world seems to have mustered a sanguine disposition toward talented foreigners.

One of my nieces who is technology-savvy has abandoned plans to seek employment in America. She does not believe the "wait and hassles" are worth it. She is pursuing possibilities in Australia and Japan.

One thing is for certain. If companies and research-and-development entities lose the ability to attract talent, innovation and invention would invariably suffer, causing America's economy to become a shadow of its former self.

It is not smart to be last in the brains business.

Ramnath Subramanian, a sixth-grade science teacher at Eastwood Knolls School in El Paso, writes often for the El Paso Times on educational topics.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_9184940

The European Union (EU) is not far behind in the new trend to attract global talent. It may, in the near future, use a system of "blue cards" to offer foreign workers a "fast track" to citizenship.

The 'talented' immigrants went on sprees in France and Denmark burning cars, building and rioting.

BLAH BLAH BLAH. IF IMMIGRANTS ARE SO CLEVER, WHY ARE THEIR COUNTRIES SUCH A MESS? AMERICAN WORKERS ARE AT LEAST AS SMART AS THE REST OF THE WORLD.....PROBABLY SMARTER. THERE IS NO REASON NOT TO HIRE AMERICANS EXCEPT TO SAVE MONEY.

Originally Posted by MontereySherry

Only America seems to be living in the dark ages.

Ya-right! And that’s why I and many others in the high-tech field have “downsizedâ€

Originally Posted by MontereySherry

It is not smart to be last in the brains business.

Ramnath Subramanian, a sixth-grade science teacher at Eastwood Knolls School in El Paso, writes often for the El Paso Times on educational topics.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_9184940

Its the same propaganda from the "we hate Gringos" crowd, but this time from India.

Sounds to me like Ramnath Subramanian hates Gringos.

(Or at least wants to cause enough Gringos to be fired from their jobs so that Ramnath's really smart relatives will need to be shipped to the US right away...)

The USA takes in more LEGAL immigrants than ALL the other countries of the world do..

COMBINED..!

NumbersUSA.com made a VERY informative & enlightening 13 minute video, SOLELY about LEGAL immigration!

What he DIDN’T talk about, and something VERY important to *REMEMBER*..

..is that illegal MIGRATION is 3-4 times this toll!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... susa&hl=en

It's a *MUST SEE* for ALL

Yes, LEGAL immigration is KILLING our future..

..illegal MIGRATION will KILL it now..



..on a lighter note, Glenn Beck has a good and FUNNY one also:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aAaBgMmSrJo&feature=related

http://www.cis.org/articles/2008/back508.html

Norm Matloff's latest study, showing that most H-1Bs are ordinary workers, among other things.

Sounds to me like this writer from El Paso is from another country? So if he and his neice, is so educated in that other country, why did he come here and she wants to go to Australia? To make more money than they can in India?

Our education system is a mess yet instead of investing their billions on education here, the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and Ted Turner are more interested in foreign countries.

If we in America are so great then why do we need anymore immigrants legal or illegal? Educated or not? We are now 300 million. Why do we need 500 million? We cannot educate our own? Every year higher education costs go up and up and up. The university professors don't want to teach but get grants for research. The law schools are full but the engineering schools are not and why not? Nurses are imported from the Phillipines. Why? Has Barry Obama or Billary or McCain looked at any of this stuff? The devil is in the details.

The head football coach at Tenneesse can make $2 million a year but the Nursing school professor? Less than they can working in a hospital!

Priorities or the lack thereof...

Our education system is bad but nobody wants to take on the teacher's union (The PE teacher makes what the math teacher does! If I have a degree in math I am going to work for Raytheon making missles and make 5 times what a teacher makes!) and then why is that ILLEGAL kid, if he is ILLEGAL, in that Idaho high school to begin with? If he can't speak English he will never learn math!

In the article, the author makes reference to his sister or someone, wanting to go elsewhere like Canada, Australia and New Zealand to work instead of trying to come to the US.

But... what has the actual result of this attempt been? I can tell you, it is harder to work in Australia than it is here (well, for most occupations, most of the time). I've only heard "we're not excited about coming to the US to work, so we're going to look elsewhere" - but... have they been allowed in to work in those other places? <- That, is the real question.

Quick Skilled Worker Fact Check

* 60% of H-1b entrants are simple Bachelor Degree holders

* The wage differential (between H-1b and native workers) in comparable jobs is approx. 20% (less for foreign workers)

* The H-1b visa is a temporary work visa - not an immigration visa.

* (etc)

Our education system is bad but...

Then why are our universities chalked full of international students?
(I might be able to go along with the premise applying to k-12, jr high, or high schools, but blanket assumptions in such a large and diverse country almost never hold). The university system here, actually, is reasonably good for the most part.