How Other Countries Benefit From America's Dysfunctional Immigration System
The U.S. is keeping talented foreigners away—and failing to retain them.
America is the top destination for international students, the place most would-be migrants say they'd go if they had the chance, and home to more immigrant inventors, foreign-born Nobel laureates, and high-skilled migrants than any other country.
Here are some other notable numbers: Over 99 percent of people who want to immigrate to the U.S. have no legal option, Indians stuck in line for certain employment-based green cards have faced projected waits of more than 150 years, and the U.S. government let 400,000 visas go to waste in 2021 alone—including one-quarter of all employment-based green cards.
In so many areas of its immigration policy, the U.S. is failing to attract and retain talented foreigners. Most international students say they want to stay in the U.S. after graduation, but very few are able to do so. Many high-skilled professionals look elsewhere when they realize how difficult it is to immigrate to the U.S. permanently. As Nicolas Rollason, head of business immigration for the London-based law firm Kingsley Napley, told The Hechinger Report this month, "We are a beneficiary of the failures of the U.S. system."
"We are losing talented immigrants, directly affecting our economy," says attorney Tahmina Watson, an expert on high-skilled and business immigration. "Many [international students] will be compelled to leave the U.S. because their visas are expiring. And why would they want to stay when their futures are uncertain in the U.S.?"
As the Hechinger Report article explains, other countries are capitalizing on that uncertainty:
The U.K. last year added a "high potential individual" visa, offering a two-year stay to new graduates of 40 universities outside the country ranked as the best in the world—21 of them in the United States….
Nearly 40,000 foreign-born graduates of U.S. universities were recruited to Canada from 2017 to 2021, according to an analysis by the Niskanen Center, a Washington think tank that advocates for immigration reform. Australian recruiters are also fanning out across the United States, attending job fairs and visiting university campuses.
And fewer international students are choosing to study in the U.S. in the first place. In 2020, new international student enrollments dropped by 72 percent compared to 2019. COVID-related border closures were the main driver of that decline, but U.S.-specific issues such as the Trump administration's throttling of the immigration system also contributed. As of late 2022, international student enrollment was still shy of pre-pandemic levels. Chinese students make up the largest share of international students in the U.S., but their numbers have declined even as other nationalities' have rebounded.
"International students and immigrant entrepreneurs can infuse much needed knowledge and skills, especially in STEM fields, into U.S. communities," says Aaron Kochenderfer, an attorney at the law firm Fakhoury Global Immigration. "Tech leaders across the country have said that the U.S. has a shortage of tech talent. International students account for over half of the graduate students studying STEM subjects in U.S. universities."
One reason the United States is losing international students is how difficult it is for them to work here after graduating. The U.S. has no dedicated postgraduate work visa. (Meanwhile, countries such as Canada and Australia have streamlined the steps from graduation to employment to permanent residency.) Graduates in the U.S. may complete Optional Practical Training, but this doesn't lead to permanent residency either. It lasts just 12 months, with a two-year extension available to STEM degree recipients.
From there, many international students try their luck with H-1B visas, which are reserved for skilled workers. But demand for H-1Bs far outpaces supply, and the annual cap of 85,000 visas hasn't changed in over 15 years. It can take ages for an H-1B holder to adjust to a green card. ("The government is currently processing green card applications of H-1B workers from India whose employers applied for them in 2011 or 2012," writes the Cato Institute's David J. Bier.). And if a worker is unemployed for over 60 days, he must self-deport. On top of all that, H-1Bs can't start their own businesses.
Kochenderfer notes that many international students may want to start businesses in their fields of study but lack a clear option. "Immigrant entrepreneurs can utilize the U.S. International Entrepreneur Rule…program," he says, but "its benefits are only…available for existing startups." Such startups need to clear high prerequisites to qualify, and even then the program "does not provide a way to obtain permanent residency."
This is why it's important for the U.S. to establish a startup visa, says Kochenderfer. "The U.S. can attract more immigrant entrepreneurs if they have an easier way to ultimately receive a green card and eventual citizenship," he argues. Over a dozen countries offer a startup visa. Though American politicians have introduced this idea on multiple occasions (and repeatedly tried to include it in must-pass legislation), Congress has never managed to get the job done.
"International entrepreneurs are moving to Canada and other countries that value talented revenue generators and job creators," says Watson, who has written a book on startup visas. "In other words, we are losing our global competitiveness due to Congress' inaction on immigration reform."
It should come as no surprise that American employers are unwilling to navigate such complex processes to hire foreigners. In March, Envoy Global, an immigration services provider, reported that 82 percent of the employers it surveyed "had to let go of foreign employees in the past year due to difficulties securing or extending an employment-based visa in the U.S." Roughly an equal share transferred foreign workers to an office abroad for similar reasons. Due to U.S. immigration restrictions, a whopping 93 percent of businesses surveyed were considering nearshoring or offshoring, Envoy found.
The U.S. will need to get out of its own way if it wants to keep attracting students, entrepreneurs, and other talented workers from abroad. Otherwise, they'll simply look for more welcoming pastures.
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It’s simple: import 50 million Chinese nationals over the next few years. That should take care of everything.
You wouldn’t want to exclude them and be racist just because you don’t like their government, right?
You were born a century and a half too late.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act
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Actually, we could benefit from importing almost every person from Taiwan (and sending back an equal number of Americans who like state-controlled economies).
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I honestly am not entirely opposed to something like that, and even from a libertarian perspective, it makes some semblance of sense or, at least more marketable sense than just Reason’s religious-zealot “MUH OPEN BOARDERZ!” stance.
I’d mention ignoring their national pride and willingness to emigrate from their own country and the cultural hegemony they have there as detriments to the policy but why bother? Reason’s never going to make those arguments against any of their positions.
Like police reform, Reason has poisoned the well of any broad political reform with constant, incessant “Why you gotta be so racist?” shit takes.
Groomer Jeffy agrees.
In recent times, I’ve noticed that Reason has been giving considerable attention to the topic of ‘talented immigrants.’ It is a widely acknowledged goal for countries to attract individuals who possess valuable skills and entrepreneurial qualities. Interestingly, even countries with stricter immigration policies than the US tend to prioritize the entry of highly skilled individuals who have the potential to earn well.
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The democrat party would celebrate. They could change their name to the People’s(communist) Party.
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What Fiona fails to acknowledge is that the countries recruiting high value immigrants do not have the open boarders that she promotes. They do not allow millions of unskilled people to utilize welfare, medical and educational benefits paid for by legal residents. They are only interested in immigrants who provide a cost/benefit advantage. We should do the same.
open boarders
I thought she was talking about immigration, not zoning.
I agree. We should absolutely let smart people who can provide useful skills into the country. Which has absolutely nothing to do with the shit show at the southern border, of course. That needs to be cleaned up, and pronto.
I’m starting to think that Fiona might just enjoy being spanked.
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Just think of all the criminals being allowed into this country: murderers, rapists, child molesters, drug traffickers, all of them future members of the democrat party.
International students account for over half of the graduate students studying STEM subjects in U.S. universities.
IOW, colleges need them to survive. Get bent.
Hey, sharing is caring. We would be selfish to hoard all of these hard-working migrants for our sole benefit.
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Certainly Mexico benefits from our dysfunctional immigration system. It means they don’t have to hold on to all the people passing through.
I notice that Reason has been focused on “talented immigrants” lately. Few people disagree that they want to bring in high-value, entrepreneurial people into the country. Countries with MUCH more restrictive immigration systems than the US has are almost entirely focused on higher talent, and potentially high-earning immigrants.
I’m trying to figure out how that 99% of people that want to come here squares with the selective high-skill programs she touts for other countries, let alone our own skilled worker program numbers. If she were honest I’d think she’s hiding something through her selective vagueness, since it’s Fiona I know she’s hiding something fatal to her argument.
Lots of talented people are coming in illegally through the porous southern border: talented drug traffickers, talented human and child traffickers, talented rapists, talented murderers, talented child molesters,talented car thieves, lots of talent ….
we got diversity inclusion and equity(DIE) here folks .
RJK Jr. speaks at porcfest, the NH Free State Project’s convention.
The libertarians at Reason have done exactly one hit piece on RFK Jr. IIRC. Their lack of coverage of his campaign mirrors their lack of interest in the smoking gun evidence of influence peddling by Joe Biden. And of course the institutionalized TDS continues unabated. A cynical person might suspect that New Koch libertarians are in full agreement with their cohorts in the MSM and DNC. All waiting for word from their masters to take Joe out. Their current position is not only untenable it’s become downright comical.
Why hasn’t Reason given more serious attention to a left-wing nut who thinks that transgenderism is caused by water pollution, who thinks that China is working on making “ethnic bioweapons”, who favors single-payer health care, who thinks vaccines cause autism, and who doesn’t think that HIV causes AIDS. Gee I have no idea why.
Guess we know what your marching orders are on RFK2.
RFK Jr. “As president I will pardon both Assange and Snowden”
I ended up watching the whole video. Two issues that libertarians would have issues with. He defends the regulatory state. Points out that it is probably unconstitutional but says that because the courts have allowed it and people keep voting for it he supports it at least in theory and due to the required public comment period and blah blah blah it is democratic. I don’t agree but it’s not an entirely stupid argument. He compares it to the Covid totalitarian response which was not constrained by any regulatory safeguards which is a good point. Secondly you won’t get a full throated defense of 2A from this guy but he doesn’t appear like gun control zealot.
Other than that I would say he’s more libertarian than any of the current Reason editors. He’s a thoughtful guy who will speak to issues that he has done his homework on but he won’t pander to the audience just to get applause or take a position on an issue he hasn’t researched. I like this guy better every time I hear him.
In 2018 there were 44.8 million foreign born individuals living in the US; 13.7% of the population. Up 250% from 1960 where only 5.4% of the population was foreign born. It is hard to align reality with Fiona’s chicken little rants about how hard it is to get into America.
https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/20/facts-on-u-s-immigrants/
Beat me to it. Thanks for pointing this out.
She wants that number brought up to 100%.
But don’t you dare point out her policy preference is to replace the current population.
And in a nonsensical fashion as well.
There was an old number about generational wealth turnover that got tossed around by one of the Leftists that it was only 10-20% with the implication that it should be 50% or more in order to generate more income equality, ignoring the fact that if it were 50% it just meant that your hobo-turned billionaire would immediately lose his fortune upon his death.
There is no policy of “We need to replace the current population with a new one.” that isn’t just a rolling series of population replacements or a one-and-done “Nobody talks about how well we genocided all those other motherfuckers.”
I’m glad to hear other countries are taking them. Why should we hoard all this treasure to ourselves? Their 17 relatives can accompany them to their new homeland.
For sound economic perspective go to https://honesteconomics.substack.com/
https://twitter.com/FrankDeScushin/status/1673399203303661593?t=AKocxro6SwtF7xFX7go5xA&s=19
Slowly but surely Europeans awake to their demographic replacement, and back anti-immigration parties who provide hope to save their homelands.
Just as surely, the political class behind demographic replacement, including conservatives, conspire against anti-immigration parties.
“… called the party’s win in Sonneberg “the result of a collective failure” of the political class, pointing to… the conservative opposition “pouring oil on the fire with populist rhetoric”.
Populist rhetoric = the view of non-suicidal natives.
[Link]
Ah populism. The source of all evil. I learned that from reading Reason.
I think it’s too late for Europe. Now a haven for low IQ savages from Africa and middle east who rape and murder young women in Germany , France and everywhere else in Europe and only get a slap on the hand.
If you want a good look at what happens to a city with a large African population go no further than Minneapolis aka little Somalia.
The entire US immigration system should be torn down and burned with fire. In its place, let anyone who wants to come here apply for a residency/work permit, provided the migrant passes an international background check and a health screening for particularly dangerous diseases. The permit is not the same as citizenship, not a path to citizenship, not a voting card, not a green card. It simply permits the migrant to live and work here legally. The migrant can cross the border freely without hassle, and so migrants can come here and work and return home to their families in their home countries after a period of time, so they don’t have to move or emigrate here in order to get a better life for themselves. It means fewer migrants will be abusing the asylum system, because they won’t need to – there will be a simple efficient pathway for them to achieve what they mainly want, a path to economic prosperity. It means the Border Patrol can focus their efforts on the actual ‘bad hombres’ on the border trying to sneak across, and not the penniless Guatemalans who are not a threat to anyone.
This isn’t a panacea, there are downsides to any policy. But there are big upsides as well.
Love it.
Nope. Terrible idea. And big shock, it came from our resident open border sea lion.
“emigrate here in order to get a better life for themselves”.
If there was enough of that type in the immigration population they wouldn’t need to find a new pasture to graze. They would have that pasture where they are now.
In other words; The whole reason sh*ttier nations exist is because of sh*ttier populations mentality. Granite; on an individual level that can be wildly different – but just by mere open lenses view *most* immigrants are going to believe in sh*ttier politics that will build the same sh*ttier nation they’ve helped create. And it shows already in voting statistics and welfare recipients.
The USA is going down the toilet; and many (probably correctly – statistically significantly) view part of that problem in immigrants mentality.
I wonder if US women are suffering by not allowing more men to have sex with them, who then might stick around and improve the women’s lives. And if other women are benefitting from this deflected talent.
lol… Quantity over Quality 🙂 .. So well fitting to reasons take on immigration.
By Reason standards, yes. Yes we are. Any and all comers welcomed.
The more people desperate not to go home, the lower the price of labor for Koch industries. Duh.
According to an article last week, people want to immigrate to the US number about 47% of the current population of the country. 1% of that total is about 1.8 million people, which is a fairly large actual number of legal immigrants.
Illegal Trespassers are *special*… /s
Or haven’t you been listening to their BS for the last century.
If it’s disgusting, criminal (armed-robbery), or selfish; then it’s *special* and therefore needs *special* exemptions to the rules. If those characteristic traits aren’t *special* then they’re discriminated. (i.e. If I can’t just take whatever I want from others I’m discriminated against!)
https://twitter.com/AuronMacintyre/status/1673474042123132929?t=14m2hR4qVtmNMPMvjbjQhQ&s=19
Strange how every western nation was actually built by immigrants who just decided not to build the same thing in their native lands for no reason at all
“Sadiq Khan: This city was built by migrants. By refugees.
In the face of hostile, draconian and immoral immigration policies across Europe, we must all show more compassion towards those fleeing their country for a safer life. #RefugeeWeek”
No. The real question is why are ‘foreigners’ becoming more competent?
Hint, Hint; Useless [Na]tional So[zi]alists who pretend only Gov-Guns can make sh*t.
Here’s our story:
Four years back we hired a very talented software engineer who had just graduated from an American university. He’s Indian, super nice guy, lots of fun, everyone loves him. He wanted to stay in the US and become a citizen. Unfortunately, he lost the H1B visa lottery three years in a row and he was forced to go back to India.
I was super pissed. Here we have a guy who was educated in America, who is helping push forward our American company and now he has to go back to India? I mean, what the fuck?
So I talked to him and asked if he’d like to open an office in Bengaluru and I’d kept paying him his American salary? He was down for it. So we now have an Indian PLC and we are hiring additional Indian developers and all the taxes and salaries are now going to India instead.
Fuck US immigration policy.
I am saving a fortune on software developer salaries though.
Great. Let’s close down the southern border for awhile and let more guy like Apubert in instead.
Here’s our story:
[shit that didn’t happen]
Sure were losing great talent, but we are getting the unemployable, drug dealers, gang members, pedophiles, rapist and all sorts of other criminals. Sometimes you just have to look for the silver lining in the cloud!
If the United States revamped its educational system we wouldn’t need most of these people in the first place . If the press covered covered this issue and others with the same energy as they do Trump the country would be better off . Then again maybe that’s the way they want it .
Forget it. The press AKA legacy media isn’t worth the gasoline it would take to burn them all down.
Useless wastes of time paper and ink. Whores
The U.S. is keeping talented foreigners away—and failing to retain them
That’s the consequence of flooding the country with illegal migrants and low skill workers, like Reason advocates.
It’s why, as a skilled immigrant myself, I find people like you, Fiona Harrigan, so utterly despicable.
Correct. She IS despicable. That whole open borders crowd is pretty vile. And Groomer Jeffy is their mascot.
It isn’t just America’s immigration policies that are dysfunctional, the entire government is dysfunctional, corrupt and lawless. The biden family as corrupt and lawless as they are , are only a small example of the rest of Washington,D.C. The democrat party is closely aligned with the Chinese communists as the recent exposure by O’Keefe that proved Act Blue was hugely funded by the CCP. The Democrat party is now the communist party.
Washington is nothing more than a huge toilet, an overflowing sewer of corruption, treason and treachery. There is nothing worth saving there. The Bidens are the symptom of all that’s wrong with Washington.
When D.C. went from the “defenders” of Liberty and Justice and *turned* to being “aggressors” against its citizens proudly touting “progressive” gov-gun usage was necessary to get anything made/done. (i.e. An enslaved society)
The left might of lost the Civil War but their slavery mentality caries on just as strong today as it ever did before. Gov-Guns don’t make sh*t. They just steal and enslave ?free?-labor/things from those ‘icky’ (pick-an identity-affiliation) people.
The ends are completely predictable by the means. Either the enslaved will rebel with arms (Civil War) in defense or the criminals/aggressors will become such greedy pigs they’ll literally ‘eat’ all the resource-providers to death and zero-sum their economy into ruins. (Venezuela)
That is why Socialism and Communism NEVER works out; because ‘guns’ don’t make sh*t.
The entire democrat party must be destroyed and its leaders, money people, etc. dealt with. Or we won’t have a country very soon.