Immigration Barriers Will Affect U.S. Academia

The Nobel Prize is one measure of a country’s intellectual prowess. Whether it is in the sciences, literature or economics, to win one is always a point of pride, not only for the winners but also for their country of citizenship. Since the first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901, 860 individuals from 76 countries have won it. Of these, 363 have been from the United States. More Nobel Prize winners have been American than any other nationality.

And of the 363 American awardees, 98 were born in other countries. Of the six Americans awarded Nobel Prizes last year in chemistry, physics and economics, all are immigrants. They are Americans by choice, but not by birth. Other past notable winners – including Albert Einstein – became American citizens after winning their awards.

Besides Nobel winners, American colleges and universities count on thousands of immigrants to do the job of teaching and research. There is no question that foreign-born nationals have contributed in making the U.S. the intellectual leader of the world, which is why this country has always been generous in accepting immigrants who can contribute to maintaining and enhancing that leadership. They work to strengthen our economy and our national security. Colleges and universities in some states have also become increasingly dependent on international students to fill the shrinking numbers of high school graduates. Many of these students stay in the U.S. and contribute to the nation’s intellectual and economic success.

But now all that can change.

On March 3 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on its website that starting April 3 the agency would temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B visa petitions until further notice.

This is the type of visa that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign-born, highly skilled workers. This type of visa has been the most common way colleges, universities, research institutes and American corporations hire international talent.

Just to give you an idea of the effect that this suspension can have on U.S. higher education and industry, each year more than 85,000 high-skill foreign workers obtain three-year permits to work for companies and universities in this country. In fact, higher education institutions rank as the third largest sponsors of H-1B visa recipients, just behind technology firms.

On April 18, President Trump signed a “Buy American, Hire American” executive order, which sets broad policies directing federal agencies to propose reforms to the H-1B visa system and making them much more difficult to obtain. The reasons behind these moves were vaguely stated in a speech at a Wisconsin toolmaker factory in which the president said that these measures were needed to “restore the American dream” and to prevent the “theft of American prosperity.”

This order could also have an impact on American colleges’ recruitment of students from abroad. Many international students who come to U.S. colleges and universities seek the opportunity to stay in the United States, even temporarily, after graduation and gain work experience, which they see as almost as valuable as an American degree itself. Many of them will stay in this country and become American citizens.

What these new immigration policies mean is that it will become very difficult for these students to stay in the U.S., where there is a great need for high-tech workers. By doing so, fewer and fewer international students will come to the U.S., severely impacting enrollments at many colleges and universities (to which they usually pay full tuition) and bottlenecking the flow of talent to this country.

To add to this potential problem, earlier this year the president signed a pair of executive orders that would temporarily bar the issuance of U.S. visas to travelers – including students and scholars – from six Muslim-majority countries. Although these orders have been challenged by federal courts, the message is clear: If you are a foreign national who wants to come to study to the U.S., chances are that you will be less welcomed or not welcomed at all.

As a result, many U.S. institutions of higher education are already reporting a decrease of up to 40 percent in the number of applications by international students, while countries such as Canada and Australia are seeing dramatic increases in international student applications. This decrease is referred to in higher education circles as the “Trump effect.”

In fact, a recent global survey of prospective students found that one in three potential applicants was less likely to want to study in the United States because of the political climate here. In a meeting that I had earlier this year with students in China (the country that sends the most students to the U.S.), many showed great concern about their opportunities to come to the United States.

For years, American colleges have advocated broader reforms of the immigration system, saying that the government should make it easier for the brightest foreign-born graduates to stay and work in the United States, particularly in high-demand science and engineering fields.

I myself was fortunate enough to graduate from an American university, obtain an H-1B visa, legally stay in this country, create a family, become a proud U.S. citizen, pay my taxes, and modestly contribute to science and education. I always saw my story as part of the American story.

After all, immigration is a large part of what built this country and made it great.

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Immigration Barriers Will Affect U.S. Academia