U.S. National Academies call for STEM immigration reforms
Report calls current policies ‘self-inflicted wound’
The U.S. Congress should enact legislation making it easy and routine for foreign-born scientists and engineers, including graduates of U.S. universities, to obtain permanent residency and citizenship, a National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine report released Friday recommended. The report explicitly cautions against setting caps or numerical limitations on specific countries.
“Congress’s failure to disentangle visa and immigration policies for students, STEM degree holders, and technology entrepreneurs from the broader challenges of comprehensive immigration reform represents a self-inflicted wound to the continuing scientific and economic leadership of this nation,” Mark Barteau, VP for research at Texas A&M University and chair of the committee that researched and wrote the report, said in a preface. ...