The Quote Below—More Misinformation from the Media
“Tens of thousands of the world’s best and brightest minds flock to the United States to pursue STEM degrees at colleges and universities every year, and most hope to stay in the country long after they graduate. This ability to attract and retain technical talent is a huge asset in the race for global technological leadership since any country that hopes to drive innovation needs access to a robust and well-trained STEM workforce.
“Policymakers in Washington risk squandering this advantage if they do not reform the immigration system for a global, technology-driven future.
“The U.S. tech industry depends heavily on workers born outside of the United States. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2020 immigrants accounted for more than a quarter of the people employed in “computer and mathematical occupations.”. . .
“The tech industry can thank the U.S. university system for this abundance of talented immigrants. The United States remains a top destination for international students interested in STEM fields, especially those pursuing graduate degrees. . . .
“However. . . the current laws limit the annual number of green cards that can be awarded to individuals from a single country, creating huge backlogs for people from populous countries like China and India. . . .
“Global leadership in emerging industries will depend in no small part on the ability to develop and retain high-quality human capital. Strengthening the domestic talent pipeline is an important part of building this workforce — and there is much more the United States can do in this regard — but attracting foreign talent is also critical. . . .
“The United States remains a top destination for promising STEM students around the world, but the country is not guaranteed to maintain this lead.” – The Advantages of Foreign STEM Students Staying in the U.S., Jack Corrigan. The Hill, 6/14/22 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: This article proceeds from the assumption that our country, with a third of a billion people, simply doesn’t have the talent to meet its needs in the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Therefore, we must remedy our inferiority with a massive and endless input of foreign talent. Strangely, we didn’t seem to have this problem before the advent of mass immigration in the late 1960s. Before then, we led the world in science and technology, and we did it pretty much with our own people. What happened? Did extraterrestrials zap us with stupid rays from a flying saucer?
No, we’re just as capable as we’ve always been. What’s changed is that many employers prefer foreign STEM workers, often admitted under the H-1B program, because they typically can pay them less and exploit them in ways that Americans wouldn’t tolerate. They hide what they’re doing by claiming that there are not enough Americans to do the jobs they offer. If that were the case, then how can they explain that 75 percent of native-born Americans with STEM degrees have had to find employment in other fields of work? This reality no doubt discourages many young Americans from even considering STEM education.
Several decades ago, when U.S. companies were relocating their plants to foreign countries, many Americans were concerned about the loss of jobs that provided a middle-class standard of living. But “experts” in government, business, and the media said there was no need to worry because Americans could retrain as computer programmers and other kinds of high-tech workers. Interestingly, it was at about this same time that U.S. companies decided it was more profitable to hire foreigners than their fellow countrymen.
A significant problem with Chinese STEM workers is that China is not a friendly country, and its government regards Chinese people working here as potential spies. Those workers might not want to spy, but the government can threaten their family members back home to make them comply.
At the end of the 19th century the famous black educator Booker T. Washington urged employers to “cast down your buckets where you are.” His meaning was that U.S. employers should give preference to hiring black Americans rather than foreigners. That same advice, applying to all Americans, would serve us well today.