A Wall Street Journal article laments the decline in highly educated legal immigrants coming to the US. We have depended on these skilled scientists and engineers for research and development.
Enrollment of foreign students in U.S. higher education declined for the first time since the 1950s. And when Congress failed to extend legislation that tripled the quota for highly skilled workers under the H-1B program, the number allowed in under this program has fallen as well. This ambivalence towards foreign talent risks depriving U.S. universities and businesses of the high-octane fuel that helps drive the American innovation machine.
The U.S. economy relies on this fuel. In science and engineering, almost a quarter of the college-educated workers were foreign-born; among workers with engineering doctorates, a staggering 51% were foreign-born, according to the 2000 census.
We must do a better job of identifying and encouraging our own talented young people to meet the demand or we will will not be competitive in this evolving global economy.
Source: Wall Street Journal