Foreign Intelligence

Immigration policy is one of the most divisive issues in American politics. There is, however, one aspect of this issue that ought to be quite clear cut: The United States government should seek to facilitate, rather than impede, the immigration of highly skilled internationals who add tremendously to our country and economy. Currently, however, restrictive limits on H-1B Visas—three-year visas issued to high skill professionals and students—are preventing many valuable workers, including foreign graduates of American universities, from contributing to the American economy.

Strangely enough, until last week it seemed that the government was moving in the wrong direction on this key issue. In late October, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) slipped an amendment into an appropriations bill that would have raised the fee employers pay to obtain an H-1B for an employee from $1,500 to $5,000. Thankfully, the provision, which would have taxed companies for trying to recruit top talent to America, appears to have vanished in conference committee in the last few days.

The controversy over fees, however, is a red herring in the H-1B debate. The real issue is the H-1B cap, which is currently at 65,000 visas. Last year, 133,000 people applied for the available spots on the very first day, forcing the government to conduct a lottery for the highly demanded visas. This is extremely problematic.

Foreign-born skilled workers and students provide considerable benefits to the American economy. A new report from the Institute for International Education found that tuition and expenses of international students alone contributes an estimated $14.5 billion to U.S. GDP, and international education is America’s fifth largest export. In addition, over the last 15 years, one quarter of U.S. venture-backed public companies—which generate about $130 billion in annual revenue in addition to employing thousands of Americans—were founded by foreign nationals. The impact of foreign workers is particularly pronounced in high-tech industries; two-thirds of electrical engineering and one-half of computer science doctoral students in the U.S. were foreign-born in 2005.

When restrictive quotas are put in place, these jobs go elsewhere. This year, Microsoft opened a new research and development center in Vancouver due in part to favorable Canadian immigration policies that make it easier to bring in foreign talent. Similarly, the Internet giant Google told a Congressional subcommittee that it failed to obtain visas for 70 engineers who are currently working overseas rather than in California as a result.

This policy is especially problematic for college students, who must show that they have at least completed the requirements for their bachelor’s degree in order to apply for a visa. For Harvard seniors last year, this meant that all graduation requirements had to be finished by the first of April. Only a select few who took all electives their senior spring could apply to stay in the U.S. Consequently, about 40 seniors who received a top-notch American education and who were eager to contribute to this country could not even apply for an H-1B visa. This effectively meant deportation.

Fortunately, the solution to this problem is simple: the H-1B cap must be raised. Such a solution has bipartisan support but was buried with the failure of the omnibus immigration bill. We hope Congress recognizes the urgency of the situation and passes a cap increase in time to raise the number of visas issued beginning in April, 2008.

Today, competition for highly skilled workers is truly global. If it wishes to stay competitive, the United States cannot afford to continue its backward policies. The government should increase the quotas as soon as possible in order to avoid losing another generation of some of the world’s most talented workers.