Fed leader wants to make it easier for skilled workers to stay in U.S.

September 7, 2008

“U.S. immigration policy is stifling economic growth by making it too difficult for foreign skilled workers to stay in the country, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said during a speech in Houston Thursday. Richard Fisher told the Greater Houston Partnership luncheon crowd that 55 percent of engineering master’s degrees and 75 percent of doctorates awarded by major Texas universities go to foreign students. Those lucky enough to get an H-1B visa then have to wait 10 years to get a green card, while Australia and the European Union are taking steps to open their borders to skilled foreign workers. “So where do you think these wonderful students that we have educated in universities subsidized by taxpayer money and private endowments are going to go?” he asked. Fisher, himself a child of immigrants, likened the situation to a company spending money to drill exploratory wells and then when they’re proven, giving away all the oil and gas.”