It will mean that for the American students this will not be any more a viable career.
Let's make USA the brain capital of the world.
It will not work. As the standard of living will become similar to the other countries USA will stop to be attractive for the newcomers unless very poor and desperate.
"I also think it's not a bad idea to simply let any PhD who wants to work here do so."
" It will mean that for the American students this will not be any more a viable career. "
I have a PhD myself, and I can assure you, that is not the case AT ALL. Most of my colleagues are ALREADY foreign-born immigrants, who come through immigrant visas, most normally the route being an F-1 student visa then H1B and/or apply for green card.
The impact being felt is not what you think: Rather than harming the local market for talent, we have the opposite situation: A stark shortage of American citizens willing to go through to PhD level. It's mostly our education system, or people not willing to wait through grad school for a professional and academic career. Whatever it is, the result is a shortage of post-grad people in hard sciences and engineering relative to the need.
More Americans should go into math and engineering.
The opportunities, pay and pschic rewards are very good,
and anyone good at what they do is not afraid of the competition. Jump in, the water's fine.
"Let's make USA the brain capital of the world."
"It will not work."
Actually, it already is working. America produces more Nobel prize winners and more patents than any other nation.
More of the same would not hurt us at all.
" As the standard of living will become similar to the other countries ..."
If you think our importing of very smart people lowers our standard of living, you are loopy. As I mentioned, quite a few high tech successes are due to such immigrants, and it has been a key factor in America's continued dominance in many high tech areas.
"USA will stop to be attractive for the newcomers unless very poor and desperate."
SO, if it stops to be attractive, they stop coming. Seems to be a self-correcting system, no?
Here's reality: They are coming already, and they have some marginal dampening effect on employment wages, that is more than balanced by the fact that high tech employment creates a wealth multiplier and jobs multiplier. As a result, the benefits of higher economic standard of living and more jobs creates so many side benefits, nation as a whole benefits.
As long as it is within reason (not opening floodgates) and the job market can absorb it (which it can, when we have 3% unemployment in the sector), it's a net benefit.