Are US Immigration Policies Causing a Reverse Brain Drain? by Tara Miller
Noted academic and tech entrepreneur, Dr. Vivek Wadhwa, has argued throughout much of his career that American innovation depends on an immigration system that encourages foreign scholars and experts to stay once they’ve finished school. Wadhwa has argued that we are shooting ourselves in our national interests’ foot by implementing immigration policies that are making it more difficult for US-educated immigrant talent to stay in the country, effectively causing a “reverse brain drain.” Wadhwa recent speech at an international education conference reifies the importance of stopping this phenomenon, especially in a globalized economy in which competition in innovative industries abroad has become stiffer.
Wadhwa has frequently cited statics that demonstrate the value that expert immigrants bring to the American economy. He claims that 25 percent of U.S. patents are filed by immigrants, and that 25 percent of all start-up companies have at least one immigrant founder. What’s more, in high-tech start-ups in Sillicon Valley, the percentage of immigrant founders exceeds 50 percent. Many of these innovative immigrants hail from countries like India and China that are increasingly becoming America’s economic rivals.
The biggest bone of contention that Wadhwa and other supporters of the reverse brain drain theory is the current cap on HB-1 visas, which has a yearly quota of 65,000. While universities are exempt from these quotas, once students graduate, obtaining such a visa, which enables immigrant experts in various specialty fields to be granted legal employment status, is becoming an increasingly impossible process. Coupled with the fact that many immigrants are finding it more attractive to return home, the number of immigrants who received advanced education in the US and subsequently employ that education in the country is dwindling.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Wadhwa’s recent speech at the Association of International Educators and Administrators’ annual meeting. The theme of the conference, Competition and Collaboration in the Global Transformation of Higher Education, proved to be an especially salient sounding board in addressing Wadhwa’s concerns. Wadhwa was quoted as saying that “We’re getting more xenophobic, anti-immigrant, just when we need them.”
Although the reverse brain drain phenomenon has been an issue in the past, Wadhwa argued at the conference that the problem is becoming graver. He notes that a few years ago, when he had polled immigrant students at Duke University where he teaches, asking them if they wanted to stay in the US after graduation, most said they did. Now, he says, he’s noticed a sharp decrease in students wanting to stay in America to work. He attributes this drop to improved opportunities in home countries as well as the anti-immigrant climate here at home.
Dr. David Skorton, president of Cornell University and child of Belorussian immigrants, echoed Wadhwa’s views in a recent op-ed published in the Huffington Post. Skorton noted:
“We should be working toward the adoption of comprehensive immigration reform tailored to the economic, political, social, cultural and scientific realities of a world in which ideas and jobs more and more easily transcend borders. What is needed is a set of immigration policies that gives us the best of both worlds — policies flexible enough to offer green cards to talented individuals who want to stay, while encouraging others to return home with some of the best education we have to offer and the potential to make a lasting difference in the world.”
By-line: This guest contribution was submitted by Tara Miller who particularly enjoys writing about psychology degree. She he loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to: miller.tara23@gmail.com.