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/