Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 23:31:08 -0800 From: Norm Matloff To: Norm Matloff Subject: a trial balloon? To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter This is a stupid editorial. But as I've mentioned before, editorials often are written in response to visits by lobbyists to editorial boards. The proposal discussed here--give automatic green cards to foreign students who get Master's or PhDs at U.S. universities in "selected fields"--is not new, but it may be an idea whose time has come. It's wrongheaded and has hidden motivations, but there are enough special interests work here that it just might get by Congress. It's certainly not needed. As I've said many times, contrary to fears expressed by special interests that we are not producing enough PhDs in science and engineering, we are producing too many, as evidenced, for example, by the fact that very few PhDs in physics ever actually get a job doing physics. The only "need" to produce so many PhDs is to maintain the academic empires of certain faculty. See any of the files in http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive whose names start with "CSAcadEstablishment" or "ForeignGradStudents", etc. It's especially ironic to see statements in the editorial like this one: * To the extent that foreign graduates would accept the green card offer * and join this country's workforce, they would help meet America's * growing need for highly trained workers. That need is expected to soar * when the baby boom generation begins to retire in a few years. The sad fact is that tons of those baby boomers wish they could get technical work now. Even if we needed more MS/PhD people in science and engineering, I and others have shown quite clearly that the remedy is obvious and classic: Raise salaries of jobs requiring these degrees. Remember, the NSF advocated bringing in more foreign scientists and engineers precisely to AVOID this remedy. Even if the foreign students were needed, the proposed remedy would be absurd. Do they really think that all Master's and PhD recipients are created equal? Just about anyone can get a Master's degrees at SOME school SOMEWHERE in the U.S. So anyone who wants to immigrate would merely get a Master's at some "wild chicken" school (Chinese phrase) and they're in like Flynn. Same thing at the PhD level, even from a "good" school, and David North's research found that most foreign students getting PhDs in the U.S. were concentrated in the weaker schools. Recall, by the way, that needed or not, I've always strongly supported facilitating the immigration of "the best and the brightest." What this editorial writer doesn't know is that we already have a mechanism for giving green cards to that category of people, called the National Interest Waiver. No employer sponsorship is needed, as long as one can document that one IS the best and the brightest. Many of you are probably thinking, "This is ridiculous. Congress would never go along with such a proposal." If you _are_ thinking that, you don't know the history of the H-1B program. I wouldn't count this proposal out. Norm http://www.startribune.com/stories/561/5751478.html Editorial: Ease immigration for foreign grad students Gov. Tim Pawlenty floated an intriguing idea on the radio airwaves Friday: Foreign students who earn graduate degrees in selected, economically desirable fields from American universities should become automatically eligible for permanent U.S. residency -- in other words, given "green cards." Pawlenty may be on to something. Offering green cards to foreign-born master's degree and Ph.D. recipients might go far to reverse the lag in international student enrollment at American universities in recent years. It could bring a surge of brainpower and diversity to U.S. campuses, while dispelling the post-9/11 impression abroad that America is no longer a welcoming place. To the extent that foreign graduates would accept the green card offer and join this country's workforce, they would help meet America's growing need for highly trained workers. That need is expected to soar when the baby boom generation begins to retire in a few years. Pawlenty's idea drew a positive initial response from his on-air guest, James McGregor, a former Wall Street Journal China bureau chief and part-time Duluth resident. McGregor, author of a new book about doing business in China, "One Billion Customers," said that this nation's future prosperity depends on the human output of its colleges and universities. Meanwhile last week, the International Herald Tribune reported that the European Union is considering a step beyond Pawlenty's suggestion. It is weighing offering full citizenship to foreign students who complete doctorates in Europe. The automatic green card proposal might marry well with another made-in-Minnesota idea. U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman secured Senate passage last month of a directive to federal agencies to develop a strategic plan for expanding foreign student access to American institutions of higher learning. U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, of Minnesota's Eighth District, has been pushing a similar plan in the House. The idea has been promoted for several years by an association of international student educators headed by former Minnesota Lt. Gov. Marlene Johnson. Establishing a national strategy for attracting foreign brainpower is an idea that's overdue. Offering permanent residency to U.S.-educated foreign scholars is an idea whose time might be coming soon.