Fast Talk

Clearly. One of the great things about this country is that we attract the best and the brightest from everywhere. Things may not always pan out as they may plan but they get a better shot to make it here than they get anywhere else on the planet. By limiting visas America is hurting itself in a few ways, not the least of which being the economy. The keywords here is "highly skilled." This means that there is a great likelihood that these people will not only fill positions but will fill position that impact our society in a big way. No there's nothing wrong with being a seamstress but I hear "highly skilled" and I think electrical engineer. If I have to choose between the two, the engineer gets in but in truth both should get in. The chances of a highly skilled person branching out, starting a business and creating jobs for others is higher than the average skilled person. It seems this is in reaction to the guy who cries about "losing his job to foreigners." To that guy I say welcome to capitalism and democracy. In America you're given a shot with zero promises. The best win. If the best if an American born person, great. If not, that's great too because in the end America wins. The land of opportunity shouldn't have troll at the gate.

I have a friend who is a not for profit engineer who builds bridges in the countries of the world that can not do this for themselves. He collects donations of materials from around the globe, and with local assistance from local people who will benefit from a bridge to the other side of a river, they are able to bring people together. In 1999, about 75% of his donations were from American companies, but over the last 9 years he has had to branch out and find other ways of providing his service. The laws that the American government has put in place does not allow for very safe passage to any city in the US. He could effectively disappear from the radar. He is not trying to immigrate, but he would apply for visas to visit his benefactors. Habeas corpus which was one of the foundation blocks of our country has all but disappeared to forgein born visitors and holders of other governments passports. So, yeah, it's damaging.

Limits on H-1B visas for in-sourced white collar workers is an effort to retain these jobs for their American counterparts. It may be new economy policies like providing tax incentives for "sustainable" start-ups (domestic hires, green technologies, IT industrial complex...)to offset the perceived losses. The US is home to a qualified white-collar workforce, the value of which is downplayed by "old corporate" habits.

Yes. Trade barriers (including human brains) in the long run harm Americans. If we are truly the melting pot, we should welcome more qualified technical experts to come to the US.

The year was 1986 same issue was on the table. The question is not accepting foreigners to US, the question is how to Americanize those high skilled immigrants. US gets brilliant brains for free by accepting them into the work force... As long as they are Americanized it is good for the state.

Yes I strongly believe so. I had a great employee who was not a citizen and lost him due to expiration of his right to work. This was also after our government paid $100,000 for his BS and MS degrees. He was a hardworker too. IMO I think we should do anything we can to increase the percentage of honest, hardworking, skilled people in this country. There are too few people like that, especially in the tech sector.

Yes, in the short term. But in the long term, it will (and has already) damage US competitiveness, and make so-called "highly skilled" careers less desirable for US college students. I have advised my son against an engineering career, since the pay is not the premium it used to be, and the risk of losing his job to someone who can and will work more hours for less money is very high. So, the US loses. It loses one more potential scientist, mathematician, or engineer, since we would so easily sell him out to lowest bidder.

No way. It is the most simple of economics. Off-shoring (or importing employees) does nothing good for the American economy. It lets large corporate interests plunder under-developed economies and governments that do not have the same restrictions, liberties and regulation as the US. It allows corporations to get even larger by given them ever-greater economies of scale which stifles innovation (take Google who wants to run everything). It fuels the greed of the primary shareholders and executives at the top of the food chain. It is an insult to Americans that we are forced to buy talent abroad instead of investing in our own people. Have all of you missed the ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots? The lower test scores, lack of interest in math & science. The promotion of a sense of entitlement in America instead of a sense of responsibility? People are correct, it is not a question of loss of jobs for Americans but one of a whacked sense of priorities of both the leaders and the populace to place proper weight on developing resources within our own borders and creating a business environment that allows the US to compete abroad with out having to look to foreign shores. Take the economy right now. America should be booming with the decline in the value of the dollar - it makes our products cheaper overseas - oh yeah, I forgot, we don't produce anything anymore! The idea in this thread demonstrates the selling off of all that made America great in the first place. It stinks.