Why the US needs highly skilled temporary immigrants

Skilled immigrants are essential?

Immigration is a major issue in the United States, but a research from Harvard Business School and the University of Michigan published in the Journal of Labor Economic has discovered that the US needs highly skilled temporary immigrants in the country, and more importantly that their presence doesn't cause detriment to native-born workers.

The report, that compared immigration to the U.S. from 1995 to 2008 under the H-1B visa program (applicable to highly skilled workers) with the number of U.S. patent applications filed over the same period, saw that government restrictions on immigration levels saw the numbers of visa fluctuate from 65,000 to 195,000 a year.

In the study, it was discovered that as patent applicants' nationalities are not recorded, they used their names as an indication of birthplace. As such, it was revealed that in periods when more H-1B visas are granted, the number of patent applications filed by people with Chinese and Indian names increased significantly in locations where organizations depended on the program. The number of applications filed by people with names they categorized as 'Anglo-Saxon' did not fluctuate in the same way.

Ruling out displacement

Speaking of the findings, report authors William R. Kerr and William F. Lincoln said, "We conclude that total invention increased with higher [H-1B] admissions primarily through the direct contributions of immigrant inventors. We are also able to rule out displacement [of native workers]."

They continued that "this study quantifies the impact of changes in H-1B admission levels on the pace and character of U.S. invention. We hope that this assessment aids policy makers in their current decisions about appropriate admission rates in the future."

With all the controversy in the US at the moment, surrounding immigration it will be interesting to see how this report influences things. Should highly skill immigrants be turned away? Or should they be allowed to contribute to the country?

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