Building a 21st Century Immigration System
By Felicia Escobar, Senior Policy Advisor for White House Domestic Policy
Council & Doug Rand, AAAS/Goldhirsh Fellow in the Office of Science and
Technology Policy
Thank you for signing the petition suggesting that the Obama Administration
provide lawful permanent U.S. residency to foreign students who have earned
an advanced degree from a U.S. institution of higher education.
We appreciate your voice in the immigration debate and on February 1st at 1:
30 p.m. EST we will be holding a conference call to discuss the importance
of reforming our immigration system – in particular, the impact of the
existing system on foreign students. RSVP for the conference call to get the
call in details and a reminder to join in.
President Obama is deeply committed to fixing our broken immigration system
and building a 21st century immigration system that meets our economic and
national security needs. The Administration consistently has supported the
basic concept that we are a nation of laws but we're also a nation of
immigrants. In order to make lasting change, we have to create a system that
works for our country.
Throughout our history, the United States has been enriched by a steady
stream of hardworking and talented people from all over the world, including
many individuals who first came to our country as students. These
generations of immigrants have helped make America the engine of the global
economy. Because your proposed reform requires changes to existing laws,
Congressional action is needed to move forward.
The President has made it clear that our current immigration system requires
updating and legislative reform to help strengthen our economic
competiveness and create a legal immigration system that meets our diverse
needs. In May 2011, the Administration released the Blueprint for
Immigration Reform (pdf) outlining the challenges we must tackle and the
solutions we must implement if we are to build a 21st century immigration
system, including encouraging top foreign talent to stay in the U.S. after
they graduate from American universities. The Blueprint states as follows:
“[T]he President supports [e]ncouraging foreign students to stay in the U.S
. and contribute to our economy by stapling a green card to the diplomas of
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), PhDs and select
STEM Masters Degrees students so that they will stay, contribute to the
American economy, and become Americans over time.”
The Administration has also taken steps to ensure that talented young people
from abroad who are educated here in the U.S. have more time to contribute
to our economy through work training or by starting a new business. The
Department of Homeland Security has expanded the existing list of science,
technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degree programs that qualify
eligible graduates on student visas for an Optional Practical Training (OPT)
extension—an important step forward in expanding the Nation's pool of
talented graduates and potential entrepreneurs in science and technology
fields. By expanding this list of STEM degrees, more of the world's best and
brightest will have an extra 17 months to remain in the U.S., beyond the
initial 12 months available to all foreign student graduates.
You can help the Administration make lasting change to our broken
immigration system. President Obama is calling for a national conversation
on immigration reform that builds a bipartisan consensus to fix the broken
immigration system so that it works for America's 21st century economy. But
he can't do it alone. He is asking you and all Americans, including business
leaders, faith leaders, law enforcement leaders and others, to continue the
conversation in your community by hosting a roundtable that elevates this
important conversation. You can find out more and tell us about your
roundtable at www.whitehouse.gov/immigrationaction.
Thank you for making your voice heard. We greatly appreciate your interest
and hope that you continue to share your views with the Administration. Don'
t forget to RSVP for the conference call on February 1st at 1:30 p.m. EST.
Check out this response on We the People.
