I have had experience with H1B visas. Permit me two examples.
1. MIT 2005-2013: During this period I had about sic doctoral and post docs. They were supported by US Government contracts. They were all foreign nationals. They all wanted to stay in the US. Only one did but under a Canadian visa. One of my best was forced back to China. I tried but to no avail. They all most likely would have become highly productive citizens.
2. MIT 1974: Different time, same place. I was up for tenure consideration. The economy was a mess and I had been at MIT for well over a decade. One book, a couple of dozen papers. They chose instead a foreign national in an nontenured spot. I was sent to Washington....and the wheel turns.
Thus on one hand we should try to keep those students who, educated with Government funds, exhibit great talent and a sincere interest in becoming citizens.
On the other hand, we should give preference to equally or more qualified US citizens and not to lower priced foreign nationals who clearly have no interest in staying.
This is a complex issue but the above bifurcation should/must be considered. Did Musk replace some US citizen, hardly. But a sample point of one does not count.
Any immigration law should address several issues. US citizens should have preference. Foreign nationals must compete and based upon merit. Salaries must be comparable. Foreign nationals should be on citizen track, not just passing through. This applies to professional workers. For "migrant labor" on farms etc there may be a different system albeit I lack and knowledge as to how best to address this. As I understand it the H1B visas are for temporary workers and they can be paid lower than US citizens and chosen over a US citizen. That is a problem.
This is definitely worth a conversation.
Posts
