Miranda Tyson

English 2116
Professor Douglas
11/10/2014

Research Paper
Have you ever thought about how difficult it must be for out of the country immigrants to
gain visas and a job in the United States? I will propose a solution to this problem which would
allow all foreign scientist and engineers that have received their PhD permanent citizenship and
jobs in the United States. This is a very important issue because the United States could benefit
from having foreign knowledge in the science programing, also this would benefit the lives of
these foreign scientist and engineers who might be struggling in their country. The President has
a proposal to expand opportunities for investor visas and U.S economic development, cut red
tape and staple green cards to advanced STEM diplomas (whitehouse.gov, 1). The
government is trying to find a solution to the problem but they are not making the process easier
for the immigrants. My plan is to insure that every deserving foreign scientist and engineer gets a
home and a job in the United States, this will not only benefit the immigrants, but it will benefit
the United States finically and economically.
The United States would be the perfect place for the greatest foreign scientist and
engineers to go and use their talent, skills and knowledge because the United States is ranked top
in science and engineering over the past years. (Teich, 1) The better scientist and engineers the
United States has the better country, it will become. The increase in international students and
immigrants has benefited the country and has helped to develop a more productive science and
technology enterprise which has led to the increase of the United States economy and jobs

(Teich, 1). From the help of immigrants businesses in the United States will become more wellknown and successful because they will gain the immigrants inventions and knowledge. It has
been researched that more than five out of six patents in information technology in the United
States in the year 2010 was by a foreign inventor (Teich, 1). Another statistic stated that forty
percent of firms; for example, Google, eBay and Yahoo, were started by immigrant inventors
(Teich, 1). With the partnership of foreign immigrants and American scientist and engineers,
great inventions, business and ideas could be formed which would in the end benefit the United
States.
Many people question the role of foreign immigrants in the United States science and
technology. Are they coming to benefit the United States or are they just coming to take jobs
and money? The National Science Board (NSB) stated that the United States should use caution
when relying on foreign scientist and engineers in the job force because other countries like
Europe and Asia is causing an increase in competition. Other countries are starting to award
scientist who receive their PhD with money which makes more immigrants stay in those
countries instead of coming over to the United States for jobs (Lin, 1). This competition is
hurting the United States in their effort to receive as many scientist and engineer immigrants as
possible. Since the United States is relying primarily on foreign scientist, the demand for native
scientist has declined and salaries have not been increased (Lin, 1). This could have a negative
affect if the amount of immigrants that come over to the United States starts to rapidly decrease.
There are still some individual who argue the fact that the Unites States should completely stop
immigrants from coming and start relying on United States native scientist and engineers. One
positive affect of foreign immigrants is that they merge the bridge between the United States and
other countries which could allow for collaborations on projects and inventions which could

extremely benefit the United States financially (Lin, 1). The NSB actually recommends
improving the science program and altering the graduate program in order to attract more United
States scientist. Michael Finn, a research economist at Oak Ridge Associated Universities, states
If the outcome is made more attractive, we won't need to offer subsidies (Lin, 1). Many
people, like Michael Finn, believe bringing in foreign immigrants is just an alternative, they
think the United States should reach within their own country for scientist before recruiting
immigrants from other countries. Another economist, Richard Freeman, thinks that the United
States should also offer rewards to increase the science and technology program (Lin, 1).
Ray Marshall, a former labor secretary, thinks that the United States needs the foreign
scientist and immigrants and should value their knowledge. He explains that if the policy
changes the amount of illegal immigrants will double and the situation will be harder to control
(Marshall, 1). Marshall is trying to figure out solutions to solve this problem and make it more
manageable. One solution could be to have the immigrant scientist and engineers come to
specialty train the United States scientist and engineers and they could give them tips to make the
science program better. It would be the immigrants working together with the United States
scientist and engineers. This would improve the countrys overall program while also helping the
immigrant scientist and engineers by still giving them a job.
There is also many concerns about the fact that too many foreign immigrants are being
brought to the United States. The United States admits roughly 70,000 skilled workers with
permanent visas and 300,000 on temporary visas (Lowell, 1). Although that is a large amount of
immigrants being brought to the United States, the majority are here for an effective purpose.
Lindsay Lowell from Georgetown University states that the concern over numbers is misleading
and there should be more focus on improving the admission process to efficiently admit the best

foreign workers (Lowell, 1). This means that procedures should be followed to determine who
the best and most eligible workers are, and those should be brought to the United States. If
the number of immigrants continues to rapidly increase there will be no more jobs in the United
States for native workers or immigrants, this is why the United States needs to take the best
scientist and engineers available. There has been a pretty steady increase of workers since the
1950s and the numbers will continue to rise (Lowell, 1). Therefore the selection of certain
scientist and engineers would benefit the United States and decrease the large number of foreign
immigrants.
It takes a great amount of educated scientist and engineers to fill the high tech job
positions. It is stated that the United States economy is capable of gaining more scientist and
engineers than the country actually educates and produce (immigrationpolicy.org,). This is why
the United States have reached out to other countries for the help of their scientist and engineers.
Statistics show that each foreign born student who graduates from a United States university with
an advanced degree and one that stays with the STEM program has created around 2.62 jobs for
American workers by their leadership and research development (immigrationpolicy.org). A
study was shown that in the past fifteen years immigrants started one quarter of public
companies in the United States (immigrationpolicy.org). These statistics show that the
immigrants are making a difference in the United States and the country is benefiting from their
overall impact. Many people argue that the immigrants are taking away jobs from the United
States. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce finds that many STEM occupations have markedly low
unemployment, and that foreign-born STEM workers currently in the workforce are
complementing, not displacing their U.S. counterparts (Streaming legal immigration). The
unemployment rate of workers with PhDs in the United States is only 3.15 percent. This is

evidence that the foreign immigrants are not taking jobs away but there are simply paving the
way for future jobs to come.
The United States is a very competitive country and in order to keep the science, STEM
and economy going new policies should be enforced to improve the STEM training process and
the amount of skilled immigrants that enter the United States to ensure that the job
unemployment does not decrease. The foreign workers are also helping out the United States
economy by making and managing their own business that open up more job opportunities. It is
stated that foreign born immigrants account for one fourth of new United States technology and
engineering businesses.
All of the research completed represent reasons behind why immigrants should or
shouldnt be given visas to the United States. It shows the benefits of the foreign scientist
coming over and the ways the United States could grow and expand economically and finically.
It also reveals how the immigrants pave the way for more job openings for United States
workers. The research also offers up solutions into how the number of immigrants can be
decreased and filtered into the skilled workers and it offers solutions to certain immigrants
being hindered from coming to the United States due to immigration policies. By allowing the
foreign scientist and engineers to get involved with the United States science and engineering
programs it will expand the programs, open up more jobs, train United States workers, bring in
more money finically, allow for improvements to be done concerning the STEM program and
also bridge the relationship with other countries to partner up and work on projects which will in
the end bring in more revenue to improve the countrys financial and job status. My proposal
will ensure that deserving foreign immigrants get the job and permanent residency in the United
States, also it will ensure that more jobs become available to the United States natives as well.

My plan will merge the immigrant scientist and engineers with the United States workers to
build upon science programing that will soon make a difference in everyones lives. My proposal
will not just improve the immigrants lives, but the lives of the United States people and
eventually the entire nations lives.

Works Cited
"Streamlining Legal Immigration." The White House. The White House, n.d.
Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
Teich, Albert H. "Issues in Science and Technology." Issues in Science and
Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
LIN, ANDREW C. "Are Foreign Scientists Good for the US Scientific
Workforce?" JSTOR. N.p., 22 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Marshall, Ray. "Getting Immigration Reform Right." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 17
Nov. 2014.
Lowell, Lindsay. "A Long View of America's Immigration Policy and the Supply
of Foreign-Born STEM Workers in the United States." A Long View of
America's Immigration Policy and the Supply of Foreign-Born STEM
Workers in the United States. Sage Journals, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
"Always in Demand: The Economic Contributions of Immigrant Scientists and
Engineers." Immigration Policy Center. Immigration Policy Center, n.d.
Web. 17 Nov. 2014.