From today’s The Hill:
It seems fending off illegal immigrants today is no longer enough.
Asserting that the H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers have been “deliberately exploited to replace” American workers, President Trump’s Sept. 19 executive order slaps a slew of restrictions — including a $100,000 fee — on newly issued visas. With an overwhelming majority of the applicants from technology-related sectors, the order is another speedbump for the most sought-after foreign technology professionals during the fiercest global artificial intelligence talent race yet.
As competition from China calls for the strongest possible advance, the H-1B visa fee is a decisive retreat. The H-1B remains a most cost-effective tourniquet against an imminent technology brain drain. Rather than charging a hefty premium, the U.S. should double the H-1B quota to avoid training a workforce only to gift it to other countries — or worse, to its adversaries.
Contrary to the executive order’s claim, the H-1B has been a safeguard for American workers, capping the number of foreign workers at a dismal low. The H-1B annual quota has by and large remained constant at just 65,000 since 1990, with an additional 20,000 for advanced degree holders since 2006. Under the randomized “H-1B lottery,” even those with a graduate degree have reportedly less than a 50 percent chance of securing the visa. Meanwhile, foreign students in the U.S. have roughly tripled. For the 2023-24 academic year, international students brought in $44 billion revenue and helped create 378,000 jobs in the U.S.
For the U.S. to welcome top students from around the world while simultaneously denying them long-term employment is to invest in human capital without reaping the benefits. In the field of AI, the loss is compounded by a tectonic turn: While just over 20 percent of AI Ph.Ds. worked in industry in 2004, that number had jumped to 70 percent by 2020. Since the H-1B quota targets industry jobs, the surge of foreign AI doctoral students headed for the private sector means the program intended to retain them has instead induced a gushing hemorrhage out of the American technology jugular.
Read the complete story here.