How can our immigration policy be so idiotic and restrictive? I’m not talking about open borders with the third world, but the smartand richpeople who innovate, start businesses, and are needed by our economy. Why do we keep them out? “’We are watching the decline and fall of the United States as an economic power — not hypothetically, but as we speak,’ said Craig R. Barrett, the chairman of Intel.” The storyin the New York Times.
“The next generation of Google engineers are being turned down,” says Pablo Chavez, Google’s senior policy counsel. “If a foreign-born engineer doesn’t come to Google, there is a very good chance that individual will return to India to compete against us.”
At the rooftop pub [in Canada, which did welcome him and his wife], Mr. Mavinkurve and his wife both express some anger. He thinks America should embrace him, given his contributions and taxpaying potential. After Google went public, he paid more than $200,000 in federal taxes on his income from salary and, mostly, sales of his shares, just in one year.
…
He says he feels, on one hand, great gratitude that America gave him extraordinary opportunity. But he says he fulfilled his side of the bargain by striving and succeeding. “Dude, I love this country,” he said.But he doesn’t feel loved back: “My devotion is unrequited.”
When decisions are made based on fear, whether on a personal level or at the national level, we all suffer.
"Mr. Berry says his skills and education — a bachelor’s degree in computer science from California State University, Sacramento — are denigrated by an industry that asserts that the best talent comes from overseas, via Ivy League schools. He worries about the employability of his children, who are studying engineering at top colleges, the University of Southern California and California Polytechnic State University"
So, we are supposed to feel sorry for poor Mr. Berry because Mr. Mavinkurve and those other foreigners are trying to steal the jobs that Mr. Berry is "entitled" to simply because he was born in America. I'm sorry, but I prefer a meritocracy where the best person wins regardless of ethnic heritage. And, if the best person isn't currently an American citizen, then we should be doing everything we can to change that situation. If we want "team America" to be the best in the world, then we need to recruit the best and brightest from all over the world instead of protecting American born mediocrity. Yet another benefit to recruiting the best & brightest is that they value education and hard work – perhaps THOSE values will be contagious.
not to mention that having a larger base of skilled, professionals would help with our glut of housing.