The Hill reported that: Lawmakers on the House Judiciary's immigration subpanel proposed granting American residency to foreigners who earn advanced degrees in math and science fields at a hearing on Wednesday.
Darla Whitaker, a senior vice president for Texas Instruments, said her company must increasingly turn to foreign nationals to fill positions that require advanced skills.
She said it is better for American companies to hire highly-skilled foreign workers than for those workers to join competitors in other countries.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) pushed her own bill, the Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America (IDEA) Act, which would grant residency to immigrants who earn master's degrees or PhDs in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) from certain research universities.
Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) expressed support for granting residency to some foreigners who earn advanced degrees, but he noted not all graduate degrees are the same.
"It takes an average of over seven years in graduate school for STEM students to receive a doctorate," he said. "A master's can be earned in two years."
Barmak Nassirian, the associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, warned that some universities might try to exploit the system by granting degrees to foreigners who just want to earn residency and are not actually interested in working in science and math fields.
Lofgren argued that her bill would address this concern.
"The concern is absolutely correct," Lofgren said. "You don't want some Internet U. That's not what we have in mind. What we have in mind is MIT and Stanford."
Her bill would apply only to about 200 research universities chosen by the National Science Foundation.
Chairman Smith suggested a variety of restrictions to prevent abuse, including only covering universities that have existed for 10 or 20 years and only granting residency to those who already have a job offer.
Defining which fields qualify as STEM also poses a problem for Congress.
Although the lawmakers agreed that engineers and computer programers should qualify, it is less clear whether certain social scientists would be covered by the program.
"I don't know how many more cosmologists we need," Nassirian said.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said if more green cards are issued for STEM graduates, other immigration categories should be reduced.
Darla Whitaker, a senior vice president for Texas Instruments, said her company must increasingly turn to foreign nationals to fill positions that require advanced skills.
She said it is better for American companies to hire highly-skilled foreign workers than for those workers to join competitors in other countries.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) pushed her own bill, the Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America (IDEA) Act, which would grant residency to immigrants who earn master's degrees or PhDs in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) from certain research universities.
Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) expressed support for granting residency to some foreigners who earn advanced degrees, but he noted not all graduate degrees are the same.
"It takes an average of over seven years in graduate school for STEM students to receive a doctorate," he said. "A master's can be earned in two years."
Barmak Nassirian, the associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, warned that some universities might try to exploit the system by granting degrees to foreigners who just want to earn residency and are not actually interested in working in science and math fields.
Lofgren argued that her bill would address this concern.
"The concern is absolutely correct," Lofgren said. "You don't want some Internet U. That's not what we have in mind. What we have in mind is MIT and Stanford."
Her bill would apply only to about 200 research universities chosen by the National Science Foundation.
Chairman Smith suggested a variety of restrictions to prevent abuse, including only covering universities that have existed for 10 or 20 years and only granting residency to those who already have a job offer.
Defining which fields qualify as STEM also poses a problem for Congress.
Although the lawmakers agreed that engineers and computer programers should qualify, it is less clear whether certain social scientists would be covered by the program.
"I don't know how many more cosmologists we need," Nassirian said.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said if more green cards are issued for STEM graduates, other immigration categories should be reduced.
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