How Other Countries Benefit From America's Dysfunctional Immigration SystemThe U.S. is keeping talented foreigners away—and failing to retain them.
FIONA HARRIGAN
6.26.2023
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:
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Source:
https://reason.com/2023/06/26/how-other-countries-benefit-from-americas-dysfunctional-immigration-system/
