We Educate Foreign Students, Then Deport Them

Submitted by CARPE DIEM

A mere 65,000 H-1B visas for foreign professionals are allocated in the U.S. each year. And this year, as in the previous four, the quota was exhausted almost as soon as the applications became available in April. This effectively means that more than half of all foreign nationals who earned advanced degrees in math and science in 2007 have been shut out of the U.S. job market.

It makes little sense for our universities to be educating talented foreign students, only to send them packing after graduation. Current policies have MIT and Stanford educating the next generation of innovators — and then deporting them to create wealth elsewhere.

~From today’s WSJ editorial American Brain Drain

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Are you an investor? Have something you want to say about the economy? Register on Econoimist Blog now and get published within minutes. Before posting, it is recommended that you review our posting guidelines.

One Response to “We Educate Foreign Students, Then Deport Them”

1. weaver Says:
   November 30th, 2007 at 5:38 pm

   A mere 65,000 visas? The Department of Travel states that 135,421 H-1B and and additional 72,613 L-1 (Intracompany) visa were issued. (Preliminary)

   In addition, 2006 Employment Based visas were as follows:

   Employment based visas 2006:
   2006 EB First Preference = 37,504
   2006 EB Second Preference = 22,430
   2006 EB Third Preference = 58,357

   Only about 13,600 of the possible 120,200 EB visa were issued at foreign service ports.

   Lets see how significant the foreign Science and Engineering degrees were in 2006.

   Derived from the ASEE published data.

   The total number of Engineering PhDs awarded to foreign students in 2006 was 5,153, well within the annual 40,400 Employment-Based First Preference (E1) visa allotment.

   The total number of Engineering Masters degrees awarded to foreign students in 2006 was 15,528, well within the annual 40,400 Employment-Based Second Preference (E2) visa allotment.

   The total number of Engineering Bachelors degrees awarded to foreign students in 2006 was 5,341, well within the annual 40,400 Employment-Based Third Preference (E3) visa and recapture of unused (E2) visa allotment.

   Here, the extrapolation for domestic Engineering Degrees:

   Subtotal “Domestic” Engineering Degrees 1999-2006 = 863,562

   (Adjusted Masters and Bachelor’s to reflect multiple degrees)
   DOCTORAL DEGREES 1999-2006 = 23,257
   MASTERS DEGREES 1999-2006 = 132,041
   BACHELOR’S DEGREES 1999-2006 = 552,966

   From Senator Grassley’s Top 20 H-1B employers we find…

   2006 H-1B and L-1 visas in Top 20 list — Total visas = 48,159

   Business Process Outsourcing Specialists (12)
   TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED = 8293
   INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED = 5202
   WIPRO LIMITED = 4841
   SATYAM COMPUTER SERVICES LTD = 3830
   PATNI COMPUTER SYSTEMS INC = 1831
   HCL AMERICA INC = 1421
   LARSEN & TOUBRO INFOTECH LIMITED = 1090
   I-FLEX SOLUTIONS INC = 876
   MPHASIS CORPORATION = 809
   TECH MAHINDRA AMERICAS INC = 781
   COGNIZANT TECH SOLUTIONS U S CORP = 5746
   LANCESOFT INC = 645
   Total H-1B and L-1 visas reported = 35,365
   Percentage of “Top 20″ Total = 73.43%

   Accounting Services (2)
   ERNST & YOUNG LLP = 913
   DELOITTE & TOUCHE = 2067
   Total H-1B and L-1 visas reported = 2980
   Percentage of “Top 20″ Total = 6.19%

   Producers of Tangible Goods (6)
   MICROSOFT = 3285
   IBM CORPORATION = 2367
   INTEL CORP = 1222
   ORACLE USA INC = 1198
   CISCO SYSTEMS INC = 893
   MOTOROLA INC = 849
   Total H-1B and L-1 visas reported = 9814
   Percentage of “Top 20″ Total = 20.38%

   In effect, the article’s author is arguing for more H-1B’s and L-1 visas which have caused a 500,000 person (not including spouses and children)backlog in the EB green card system.

   Here: we have the Total Foreign Student Enrollment for 2006.

   The Institute of International Education (IIE) reports the following new admissions to the U.S. educational system for the 2006-2007 school year.

   Undergraduate = 63,749
   Postgraduate = 72,726
   Other = 20,703

   Total = 157,178

   There is no guarantee that 100% of these student will graduate, nor that all students are interested in immigrating to the U.S.

   Also, see the Urban Institute, Rand and other studies proving that Engineering graduates have exceeded Engineering Job growth by 3 to 1.

   Source links and data - http://immigration-weaver.blogspot.com/

Comments