Keeping the Next Generation of Innovators and Entrepreneurs in the U.S.

A student from Brazil comes into America on a visa, looking for a quality education. The student ends up gaining admission into one of the nation’s best schools for Science and Technology, graduates with honors and then…heads back home to Brazil.

Do you see anything wrong with that picture? Some members of Congress seem to and have introduced legislation aimed at keeping foreign-born students in America after graduation.  The goal is to have them use their newly acquired skills to boost the American economy.

In January, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced a bill entitled the STAPLE ACT or the “Stopping Trained in America Ph.D.s from Leaving the Economy Act of 2011”.  This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt foreign born students who have earned a Ph.D. in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM), and have a job offer in the United States from caps on green cards and H1-B visas that would deter their continued stay in the U.S. This bill currently has 10 co-sponsors (five Democrats and five Republicans).

Rep. Flake believes America will lose more jobs in the future without action from Congress, saying in May, “Unless our visa policy is adjusted to allow foreign-born, U.S.-educated students to remain and work in the country after they’ve graduated, we’re going to continue to see our technology industry move overseas. Why should we let the next Google be developed abroad when U.S. universities are educating the people who will create it?”

More recently, on June 14, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced the “Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America (IDEA) Act of 2011”, which allows American companies to attract and retain highly-skilled foreign graduates of American universities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.  The IDEA Act incorporates aspects of the STAPLE ACT and would also create a new green card category for entrepreneurs who establish new start-up businesses, create jobs for American workers, and invest in the American economy. The legislation reforms the current H-1B and L-1B visa programs to better protect workers from exploitation and prevent the undercutting of American wages. This bill currently has 14 co-sponsors.

Both pieces of legislation, while worded differently, have similar goals. The main objective, keeping highly qualified individuals in America where they can contribute to her economy in a positive way, as opposed to educating individuals and watching them go home to compete against America in the global economy.

In speaking about her bill Rep. Lofgren drives home this point, saying, “it makes no sense for us to educate the world's brightest students and then ship them back to their home countries to compete against us. My bill would allow some of the world's sharpest minds to stay in the United States and help us grow our economy.”

While both bills still sit in committee, we have heard very clearly from our grass roots network, TechVoice, that these pieces of legislation are meritorious.  While some improvements may be appropriate (such as expanding the category of foreign born graduates that would receive a green card to those with other pertinent advanced degrees), CompTIA is closely monitoring new developments. With more people starting to address this issue as a concern for America’s future economic prospects, we could see additional action from this Congress in the months ahead.