Because of our immigration policies, we are losing highly skilled workers who have studied here and want to stay. We need immigration reform, we are training these people and then other countries get them. DP
In order to stay on top of the rapidly changing global economy, the U.S. needs to make it easier for foreign talent to stay in the country
by Vivek Wadhwa
Businessweek.com: Here's a story about an immigrant realizing the American Dream—well, almost. In 1996, Denis Kholodar won first prize in a national engineering contest in Russia and came to the U.S. to complete a PhD in aerospace engineering. His professor and adviser at Duke University, Earl Dowell, who describes Kholodar as one of the brightest students he has ever worked with, took him under his wing. Together, they pioneered new techniques in aerodynamic modeling to reduce wing flutter in jet aircraft.
After earning his PhD, Kholodar landed a fellowship with the U.S. Air Force. For eight years, he didn't leave the U.S. out of fear of not being able to re-enter—he says re-entry background checks on Russian scientists can take as long as six months. Though Kholodar wanted to remain in the U.S. and make it his home, he had to leave when his visa expired last year. His trajectory illustrates one of the problems being overlooked in the immigration debate—the U.S.is losing out on the formidable contributions of legal, skilled immigrants.
Executives of companies like Boeing (BA) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) often raise the alarm about their aging workforce and the shortage of engineers (see BusinessWeek.com, 7/10/06, "Engineering Gap? Fact and Fiction"). Yet Kholodar says both companies wouldn't interview him when he applied for a job because he wasn't a permanent resident. (Both declined to comment.) Kholodar points out that hiring a nonresident requires extensive paperwork. And the U.S. Air Force couldn't hire him because he wasn't a citizen.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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