The Quote Below – More Misinformation from the Media
“Congress should heed the advice of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) and enact policies to attract and retain foreign-born talent. The NSCAI advocated in its final report to create a startup visa for immigrant entrepreneurs, at least double the annual number of employment-based green cards, and eliminate the per-country limit (to prevent waits for permanent residence that can last decades). The commission also recommended expanding H-1B visas, typically the only practical way for a high-skilled foreign national to work long-term in America, while establishing a new ‘emerging and disruptive technology’ visa.
“Congress can follow the commission’s advice to exempt from the annual limits for green cards international students who earn PhDs in STEM fields or, better yet, do so for master’s degree students as well. Legislation can also provide work authorization to bridge the gap for students who complete their degrees and must wait for employment-based green cards, as in the Biden-supported U.S. Citizenship Act.
“If the Senate starts to move forward with the Endless Frontier Act, we should expect an amendment from Sen. Tom Cotton (R–Ark.) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R–Tenn.) that mirrors their ‘Secure Campus Act’. That bill prohibits Chinese graduate students from studying in STEM fields at U.S. universities. But the NSCAI concluded that banning Chinese graduate students from U.S. university STEM fields would be a gift to the Chinese Communist Party. ‘Immigration policy can also slow China’s progress,’ according to the final report. ‘China’s government takes the threat of brain drain seriously, noting that the United States’ ability to attract and retain China’s talent is an obstacle to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ambitions. Increasing China’s brain drain will create a dilemma for the CCP. . . .” — Immigration Is the Most Important Way to Beat China, Stuart Anderson, Reason, 5/17/21 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: Stuart Anderson suggests, as most immigration enthusiasts do, that America simply doesn’t have enough people with scientific and technical ability to keep our country creative and prosperous. Therefore, they claim, we must have an ever rising population propelled by mass immigration to get the talent we need.
But if this were true, how can they explain the soaring technical achievements of the U.S. between 1924 and 1965, an era when immigration was significantly limited and our population was much less than now. During that interval we built the world’s leading economy, and pioneered in almost every technical field.
We still have enough people to excel in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), but we are not properly encouraging them. One reason is immigration. Too often, U.S. companies hire foreigners instead of Americans. The companies claim that we don’t have enough STEM-qualified people. That’s not true because nearly three-quarters of U.S. college STEM graduates have had to find work in non-STEM fields. The companies prefer foreigners, particularly those on temporary visas, because they can pay them less than Americans and subject them to more difficult working conditions.
In some cases it could be helpful to admit some highly talented immigrants, but this is not what the H-1B visa and other visas provide. The great majority of their holders are not exceptional or outstanding.
Admitting large numbers of Chinese to do our STEM work has the additional problem of posing a national security threat. The U.S. and China may not be outright enemies, but the two countries are definitely rivals, and the Chinese are striving to match the economic and military power of the U.S. One way they’re doing this is sending their students and temporary workers to steal technical information in the U.S. and transfer it back to China.
This is a serious and growing problem. Even if the Chinese who come here don’t want to engage in this type of theft, their government can place strong pressure on them to comply, including threats against their family members back home. In this situation, China would suffer no “brain drain,” as the report cited in this article claims. Chinese brains would still be serving China.
American jobs should go, first and foremost, to American citizens, thereby making full use of their talents. A policy that promotes any other objective.is un-American.