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ITHACA, N.Y. - A streamlined process for awarding green cards to international STEM doctoral students graduating from U.S. universities could benefit American innovation and competitiveness, including leveling the field for startups eager to attract such highly skilled workers, according to a new study by researchers from Cornell University and the University of California, San Diego.
The new Biden administration backs policy reform aimed at achieving that end, which was part of bipartisan legislation proposed more than a decade ago. But progress has been stalled by broader concerns about visas - particularly the temporary H-1B, commonly used to hire entry-level guest IT workers - that critics say displace Americans with lower-paid foreign labor and should be scaled back.
Thatâs about to change.
President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has vowed to roll out a far-reaching overhaul of federal immigration laws Wednesday, his Inauguration Day.
Though experts and advocates said they are hopeful that Bidenâs reforms will ease legal restrictions on immigration, they noted that institutional change will require more time.
Harvard administrators, including University President Lawrence S. Bacow, have publicly challenged Trumpâs immigration policy over the past four years through letters, lobbying, and lawsuits. Experts agree that higher education leaders, campuses, and advocacy groups must join the government in pushing for change.
âThe Harms of the Past Four Yearsâ
ETtech Morning Dispatch, 19 Jan. 2021: Top Tech News to Start Your Day
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Last Updated: Jan 19, 2021, 08:03 AM IST
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Good morning, ETtech reader.
Startup funding deals are gaining significant traction in the new year, in sectors as varied as gourmet meat (Licious). India moves to fix glitches in the tech backbone of its Covid-19 vaccination drive. Zerodha CEO bats for more fintech startups in India’s complex mutual-fund space.
Here’s a look at the top tech news to start your day.
ETtech
Gourmet meat startup
TPG, General Atlantic, PremjiInvest and Multiples Alternate Asset Management are in talks to invest in the Vertex Ventures- and 3one4 Capital-backed company, sources said.
15 Jan 2021
The Department of Homeland Security is promising to issue a detailed report about the roughly 500,000 white-collar jobs that are transferred from American graduates to foreigners via the huge university-backed Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which is often described as the younger version of the H-1B program.
The agency “is currently unable to evaluate the impact OPT has had on U.S. workers and foreign students who have obtained work authorization through the programs,” said a January 13 message from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program within the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
“To remedy this, SEVP is announcing the development of a new unit the OPT Employment Compliance Unit that will be dedicated full-time to compliance matters involving wage, hours, and compensation … the first report will be published on ICE.gov by July 31, 2021,” said the statement. It continued:
14 Jan 2021
Four former homeland security chiefs have endorsed President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for homeland security because he helped deliver work permits to roughly 800,000 illegal migrants.
“We each know [nominee Alejandro] Mayorkas as a man of character, integrity, experience and compassion … he helped create and administer the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [DACA] program,” said the January 12
Washington Postop-ed by former DHS secretaries Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano, and Jeh Johnson.
The DACA program provided work permits to roughly 800,000 illegal migrants during the post-2008 economic recession, even as many millions of Americans had lost jobs, wages, and homes.
“The president-elect could not have found a more qualified person to be the next homeland security secretary,” said the four former secretaries, all of whom worked for Presidents George W. Bush or President Barack Obama despite evidence of multiple scandals in Mayo