"Highly skilled immigrants should be part of debate," says TechNet's Geoff Wurzel
"When we hear the word 'immigration' in Texas, our first thought is probably about the border. But not all immigration issues are about the border, and not all immigration issues are the same.
"The immigration system for highly educated foreign-born professionals is about job creation, economic growth and America's continued innovation leadership. But it's also about backlogs, quotas and frustration for U.S. and Texas employers unable to hire the scientists and researchers they need to drive growth in America. Given the great contributions these valuable professionals make to our country, America should be doing everything it can to remedy these problems and make it easier for them to stay.
"Major U.S. employers, such as Intel, eBay, Yahoo! and Google, were all founded, at least in part, by foreign nationals, and according to the Brookings Institution, more than a quarter of U.S. technology and engineering businesses launched between 1995 and 2005 had a foreign-born founder. Duke University reports that here in Texas, nearly one in five technology companies were founded by an immigrant. In 2005, immigrant-founded engineering and technology companies in the United States generated more than $52 billion in sales and created just under 450,000 jobs.
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"In addition to working in our companies, foreign nationals are studying in our universities. Nationwide, the American Association of Engineering Societies reports that in the field of engineering nearly half of all master's degrees (42 percent) and more than half of Ph.D.s (53 percent) from U.S. universities were awarded to foreign national students in the 2009-2010 academic year. In Texas, foreign students make up 52 percent of all engineering masters' degrees and 54 percent of all engineering doctorates.
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"Given the enormous benefits they bring, reforming the legal immigration system for highly educated professionals must top the congressional agenda for 2011. Years-long delays in the employment-based green card system should be cleared so that foreign nationals don't give up on America and go to more welcoming, competitor nations to innovate. Foreign students who receive advanced degrees in the high-demand areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from a U.S. university and who have a job offer should be guaranteed a green card upon graduation. And H-1B visas should be based on employer needs, not arbitrary allocations that have no basis in the market or workplace demands."