Archive for the Skilled immigrants Category.

April 10th, 2008

Immigration Articles in Newspapers

N. Peter Antone

There have been several articles in some of our nation’s most prominent papers, highlighting the contribution of various immigrant groups and dispelling some of the myths circulated around in the immigration debate. You would not hear about those articles on the Lou Dobbs program.

The following article in the New York Times titled “How Immigrants Saved Social Security” explains not only how legal immigrants contributed to our tax base, but also how illegal immigrants contribute even more so to social security without getting back anything from the system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/opinion/02wed3.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=how+immigrants+saved+social+security&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Another article discussed the wall being built along the southern border and how it is causing damage to the environment and to property rights. The article is titled: “Disorder On The Border” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/opinion/29egan.html?scp=1&sq=disorder+on+the+border&st=nyt

Another article highlights how, in its attempt to please the hardliners, our government has trashed many environmental laws and damaged hundreds of thousands of acres of fragile habitat on the southern border. The article is titled “Michael Chertoff’s Insult” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/opinion/03thu3.html?scp=1&sq=Michael+Chertoff+Insult&st=nyt

Several articles in the Wall Street Journal highlighted the need for more H-1B visas. One quoted Bill Gates’ testimony to Congress in which he cited studies showing that H-1B workers, through the innovation they bring, actually add jobs at the rate of 5 to 7.5 new jobs for every new H-1B worker. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120691381253875289.html

Bill Gates’ observation relates to his experience at Microsoft. However, a recent study by the National Foundation for American Policy verifies his experience and shows similar results with data showing that because of their innovative skills, every H-1b worker actually causes the creation of about 7.5 American jobs. See http://www.nfap.com/pdf/080311H1b.pdf

Another article highlighted how other countries are using America’s ill-advised policy to their advantage by luring intelligent immigrants to their own countries. See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120701430488579221.html

Posted in Recent Posts, Skilled immigrants, The undocumented | Comments Off
January 6th, 2008

Michigan Attorney General opinion unintended consequences for global trade

N. Peter Antone

Michigan’s Attorney General’s office has issued an opinion, which limits driver’s licenses to US citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (known as green card holders). Many Michiganders may applaud this opinion as enforcing our laws, without knowing how damaging this simplistic interpretation will be, if implemented.

First, our society is comprised not only of citizens and green card holders versus the undocumented. In Michigan there are hundreds of thousands of foreign investors, executives, managers, professionals, experts, and other foreign workers who are legal, are needed here, and are contributing to our economy, but are neither citizens nor green card holders. Making it harder for them to a drive will make Michigan a less friendly State to foreign business.

In addition, there is a huge segment of potentially legal immigrants who are in the process of becoming legal, but have to undergo a process that takes years, and who otherwise are allowed by the immigration service to work. They include refugees, immigrants with close US family ties, immigrants with hardships, and other comparable situations. Making it harder for those to drive will impose undue hardship on them, and will hurt Michigan economy by making idle an otherwise productive group, who may then need to rely on public assistance.

This ruling will also impose a huge drain on the resources of the offices of the Secretary of State, since they have to become instant experts in immigration law, causing substantial more delays to everyone else.

The above does not even start to address the very notion of whether it is wise to drive the undocumented aliens underground, creating a segment of society who are driving without insurance, without testing, and who are unlikely to report crimes or to cooperate with police.

Is it not better for our national security if we know who is living among us, with their addresses and what cars they drive?

The Attorney General’s opinion seems to be based on an erroneous common misconception that a driver’s license granted to an illegal alien would enable him to work. That is simply not true, because work authorization requires a social security card with work authorization from the Federal government. Nor would a to license to an illegal alien prevent the Federal Government from deporting that alien should it become necessary. I suggest Michigan’s officials reassess this ruling .

Posted in Bills & Laws, Immigration, security, and fear, Recent Posts, Skilled immigrants, The undocumented | Comments Off
November 8th, 2007

Is the H-1b program useful?

N. Peter Antone

Many who oppose the H-1B visa category for high-skilled professionals argue that we should focus instead on our own students, improving math and science, and avoid having foreigners compete with the U.S. work force.

However, I believe that even as we make our math and science programs the best in the world, and even as our own work force should be our first focus, the H-1B program is still worth keeping and expanding. Under the H-1B visas, U.S. employers usually employ young foreign professionals who mostly are in the upper percentile of their home country ability-wise. It is simply not cost effective to bring a mediocre professional here with costs running in the thousands in legal and government filing fees, and in relocation expenses. Because of that, the program is cost effective only when employers bring the brightest, or hire foreign graduates of our schools who are usually the top from their own country.While there may be some abuse, and some H-1bs might be here for their cheap labor and not for their talent, the remedy is to punish the abusers, and not to destroy a good program.

Therefore, even if America’s study standards improve and even if we spend more effort at training our professionals (which we should), the question remains whether we, as a nation, should continue to welcome the best and the brightest of mostly young professionals of the world to work and live among us. I think that the answer should be yes.

Those high-skilled professionals, even if a few of them may compete with American for jobs, are at the same time adding to the consumer base since they have to live and spend money here. Many of them will end up being inventors, enhancers and creators of businesses who would, in turn, employ numerous Americans. E-bay, Yahoo, Cisco, Google, and numerous other high tech companies are all examples of extremely successful businesses started by immigrants or their descendants that ultimately created far more jobs for Americans than the ones supposedly initially taken by them.

In addition, if we don’t allow this type of talent to enter the U.S., these individuals will go elsewhere and we will lose the tax base they would otherwise provide. Many US companies are starting overseas offices to avoid the hassle of the H-1B visa. Such outsourcing has a negative effect on the United States in comparison to bringing the workers here and making him part of our consumer and tax payment base.

Considering that we accept almost a million of family based immigrants and many more undocumented aliens every year without labor competition analysis, we need to reassess the many obstacles placed to the much fewer numbers (and much more talented) H-1bs. Those young bright H-1b professionals, and their children in the future, will enrich us, be good for us and for our future generations as well as for our own work force and its competitiveness in the global economy.

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