Following the announcement of the proposal for US immigration reform that is being worked on by a bipartisan group of senators, a number of key principles are beginning to gain traction as possibly large contributions to the economy of the United States. The idea of rewarding foreign students who graduate from US universities with a green card, an idea that the House of Representatives cleared in 2012, is now being supported by the Senate.
This law could be of particular benefit to natives of India who move to the United States in their legions to study engineering, mathematics, science and technology subjects. At the moment, existing laws mean that these individuals can study their chosen fields in the United States but are then often forced to leave the country after they graduate due to the fact they are not able to immediately get a green card.
However, the new legislation would mean that an immigrant who graduates with a PhD or a master’s degree in one of the above disciplines would be immediately rewarded with a green card, enabling highly skilled individuals to be able to stay in the country and contribute to the US economy once they have graduated.
“[Immigration] keeps our workforce young, it keeps our country on the cutting edge, and it has helped build the greatest economic engine the world has ever known,” President Barack Obama says. “After all, immigrants helped start businesses like Google and Yahoo. They created entire new industries that in turn created new jobs and new prosperity for our citizens.”