Lift visa restrictions for professionals

In Utah and the rest of the United States, one can see that America's technological and scientific edge has been gained by our openness to talent from around the globe. A congressional proposal to exempt 20,000 advanced-degree graduates of U.S. colleges from current restrictive visa limits on foreign-born professionals, which could be acted upon in a lame-duck session, would enhance innovation and keep more jobs in the United States.

While the tech downturn and national security concerns have tightened U.S. policies on student visas and employment-based immigration, excessive restrictions could doom the country to mediocrity in science and technology. Today, half of the engineers with Ph.D.s working in the United States are foreign-born, according to the National Science Foundation.

However, future talented contributors are today being prevented from coming to America by Congress' failure to raise the annual ceiling of 65,000 on H-1B (professional) visas, resulting in months-long delays for employers hiring skilled professionals.

In fact, the immigration service says it already received enough applications in October to reach the 2005 cap. If, unlike in previous sessions, Congress never raises the ceiling, then backlogs will result in yearlong waits, causing many employers to place prized employees outside the United States.

Moreover, if post-graduation employment in the United States becomes, in practice, impossible, then many international students will likely abandon plans to study in America, diminishing our place as the world's beacon for the most talented.

Unfortunately, some critics seem to welcome such a development, arguing that a policy of "natives only" in high-tech will bring more employment opportunities for U.S. citizens. This is shortsighted. If U.S. employers are not allowed to hire skilled professionals inside the United States, there is no doubt they will hire them in India, China or elsewhere.

Critics would say, "We can solve that by stopping offshore outsourcing." Do they suggest that America will or should adopt a policy of autarky, or economic self-sufficiency? Simply put, the insular model of no trade and no immigration followed by Burma and North Korea is not the pathway to prosperity.