One of the current immigration reform proposals advanced by both the bipartisan Senate \u201cGang of Eight\u201d and by President Obama is giving automatic immigrant visas (\u201cgreen cards\u201d) to foreign graduates of U.S. universities. The argument is made that if we do not give them jobs they will go home and compete against us.<\/p>\n
To assess the logic of this proposal you should ask yourself whether you think the foreign graduate should get a visa to work in the U.S. if there are not enough jobs for American graduates. That, in effect, is the standard at present. To get a \u201cgreen card\u201d, the foreigner has to have found an employer offering a job, and the employer has to certify that no qualified U.S. workers have been found to take that job. That makes sense. Why would you want to give a visa to a foreign graduate of a U.S. university if no employer is interested in hiring that person? And why would we accept that our own graduates be disadvantaged?<\/p>\n
But what about those graduates of U.S. universities going back home to compete with us? First, remember that this is the basis on which student visas are given in the first place. Unless you plan to return to your home country at the end of your studies, you are not supposed to be eligible for a student visa. That is what the law says, but everybody knows that the intent to return to the home country can change after a few years in the U.S. especially if a good job offer is available. The point is that no one should be surprised if a foreign student wants to return home. And, even \u201cgreen cards\u201d for foreign graduates are not going to keep all those foreign student graduates in the United States.<\/p>\n
In addition to the chance for an employer\u2019s sponsorship for a \u201cgreen card,\u201d there are at present about 100,000 nonimmigrant visas being given each year to foreign workers with university degrees or outstanding skills (H-1B visas). These non-immigrant work opportunities are being used by employers to hire the foreign graduates of U.S. universities in effect as probationers who hope eventually to be sponsored for a \u201cgreen card.\u201d If they don\u2019t get sponsored for a \u201cgreen card\u201d or even a nonimmigrant visa, they are still able to take a U.S. job under a program of Occupational Practical Training that may extend up to 2 years and 5 months<\/a>. The Department of Homeland Security puts the current number of OPT workers at about 70,000. <\/p>\n