Support bill promoting high-tech immigration

Right

now, Austin companies have posted 4,500 job vacancies that require electrical engineering, network, database and software skills. This is up from 2,500 only a year ago. Simultaneously, we have students with math, science, engineering and technology master’s degrees and Ph.D.s from the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Rice University, Texas State University and other schools here in Texas who would like to work in Austin but are forced to return to their home countries.

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith’s high-skilled immigration bill, passed Friday by the House, will allow graduates in our highest-demand technical fields to receive a “green card” and apply their skill, talent and work ethic to help Austin companies grow Austin jobs.

Freescale Semiconductor stays on the cutting edge of technology by developing and retaining talent. This is a global competition. Just as in sports, if these gifted technologists aren’t playing for us, they are playing for our competition.

The brightest and most talented people from around the world come to Austin and to the U.S. to study at our universities, but we often can’t keep them here after they have completed their studies. Many times, these are students who bring their families, discover our love for Tex-Mex, conduct advanced research in taxpayer-funded labs, play with their children in Zilker Park and intern at our technology companies.

Our current immigration system forces these bright minds to return to their home countries, or worse, to immigrate to another country and work for a competitor. This is all the more galling, because in many cases we’ve helped finance their education and probably the research programs during their graduate study. If the U.S. intends to remain competitive in the global market, we must aggressively pursue the world’s top talent so that they invest their expertise, energy and dollars in America’s success.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that 120,000 new U.S. jobs will require a bachelor’s degree in computer science, but our universities will only graduate 40,000 new bachelor’s degrees in computer science. In addition, the national unemployment rate this summer exceeded 8 percent for the third consecutive year, yet the rate in computer-related occupations was only 3.4 percent. Between the number of graduates in computer science and the unemployment rate, the total number still leaves many jobs unfilled.

Smith’s bill will allow us to accomplish two goals. First, it will demonstrate to foreign graduate students currently studying STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at U.S. universities that there is a path toward U.S. residency and citizenship. We will help encourage them to plan their future here. Second, it ensures that openings for highly skilled technical and engineering positions in Austin and at other U.S.-based companies are filled with the skilled talent necessary to continue company growth and rebuild our economy. Even with the number of new visas the bill is requesting (50,000), a significant technical gap will still exist that provides plenty of opportunities for technically trained U.S. citizens. Everyone wins in this proposition.

Clearly, Central Texas must continue its work locally to increase the number of our young people ready to study in technical fields. For example, the Austin Chamber has invested in Skillpoint Alliance to conduct the region’s largest career expo for 3,500 high school students annually. The chamber has also invested $600,000 annually to work with more than 1,000 students in math and writing to prepare for college coursework. Further, we conduct three dozen Financial Aid Saturdays events to help thousands of students and their families complete the federal college financial aid forms and determine how to pay for post-secondary training and education.

But we must meet our immediate workforce challenge. We should adopt both short- and long-term strategies to recruit and retain the most talented people in the world. Immigration has proved to be a great strength of this country. Immigrants create new technologies and companies, enhance existing companies and contribute daily to U.S. innovation.

Freescale believes this STEM Jobs Act is an absolutely critical part of the solution and helps keep the world’s most talented individuals innovating here at home. It is imperative that technology leaders here in Austin show our support for the bill. Please encourage the Senate to follow the House’s lead and act now.