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Support for US student visa reform
A prominent American economic analyst spoke recently in favour of attracting and retaining skilled migrants.
While speaking about the future of the American and Californian economies to the annual conference of The Indus Entrepreneurs, Tom Campbell said America was the loser if it couldn't keep skilled immigrants.
Campbell, a former state Senator, Congressman and ex-California director of finance under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, discussed the positives and negatives of the current fiscal situation in the US. American immigration, both illegal and legal, is a topic of significant debate at the moment, Campbell said, adding that there were great benefits to be gained from having more skilled immigrants in the US.
Campbell seemed to point to creating a route for foreign graduates of US universities to be allowed to remain in the US as a way of halting a significant 'brain drain'.
"The US benefits from drawing into our country the very best the world has to offer. I have seen many excellent students at Berkeley and Stanford who had to leave our country upon completing an advanced degree when they would have preferred to stay; and our country has been the loser as a result," Campbell stated. "Just as we must be careful against increased illegal immigration, we must safeguard opportunities for qualified immigrants to come and make our country better. I do favour a switch in immigration policy more toward the qualified categories, over pure family reunification."