In an op-ed in the Pasadena Sun, Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Charles Bass (R-NH) repeated recent calls to action that the United States must take to retain international student graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The congressmen wrote that because of a shortage of U.S. graduates in STEM fields, companies are facing a shortage of potential workers. They said that because of this shortage, immigration policy needs to change in favor of allowing nonimmigrant students to stay in the United States. Congressmen Schiff and Bass add that “many of these graduates have no option but to return to their country of origin at the expiration of their student visas, taking with them the skills and ideas they developed here and creating jobs overseas.”

Citing the need for immigration reform, the congressmen said that current “immigration policy has made it difficult to retain the talent we need to compete in a global economy. We need to look at what drives job creation and refocus our immigration policy toward recruiting and retaining the best and the brightest workers from around the world. The world sends us their best and brightest to study in the United States; let’s not give them back.”

In the op-ed, the congressman promote their bill, the INVEST in America Act. The congressmen believe the “bill would allow foreign students who have graduated from American universities with STEM degrees to start a new business here and to earn a green card by creating jobs for Americans and attracting investments.”

Source:

Op-Ed: Winning the global war for talent, Pasadena Sun