At a Brookings event Monday on high skilled immigration
policy, Dr. Jeanne Batalova of the Migration Policy Institute presented her “Brain
Waste” study on how many college-educated immigrants are working in unskilled
jobs. The study also seemed to
point to the importance of employers having a role in the selection of skilled
immigrants.
Dr. Batalova’s study showed that 21% of college-educated
immigrants are working in unskilled jobs and another 22% are in semi-skilled
jobs. However, the study also
showed that there was a wide disparity according to the visa category through
which the immigrant was admitted for permanent residence. While Family, Refugee and Diversity
admissions saw skill level drop-offs between their job abroad and their U.S.
job, those with employment-based green cards had very little drop-off. As Professor Jennifer Hunt of McGill
University observed, this may be due to the fact that EB green cards are
sponsored by employers, and perhaps they know best.
Another panelist, Professor David Hart of George Mason
University, presented a study on the impact of high-tech immigrants on
entrepreneurship. Professor Hart called
for expanding the supply of immigrants with entrepreneurial qualities, and suggested
such policy ideas as clearing the green card backlog, fast-tracking those with
successful careers, and loosening the link between immigration and employment
by creating a “point” system for green cards. The first two are certainly effective ideas, but I believe
the “point” system would be problematic.
A points system for green cards is an idea that was included
in the failed Senate immigration reform legislation of 2007. Instead of employers selecting and
sponsoring the workers with the specific skills they need, it would have left
employers to choose from a pool of candidates selected through a set of generic
government-determined points criteria.
While it makes sense to admit more qualified immigrants, it does not
make sense to cut employers out of the process of matching the required skills
to the position. It would be like
an NFL draft in which teams were forced to select “the best athlete available,”
regardless of the team’s position needs.
Any system that fails to take into account the demand side of what
skills employers need, and seeks to impose a government-approved supply of
foreign workers (whether through a points system or limits designated by a
federal commission) will not be workable, and may very well result in an
increase in the “brain waste” chronicled by Dr. Batalova.
