This past September, Republican Representative Lamar Smith proposed a STEM visa bill. The bill would create 55,000 permanent visas (green cards) per year for those immigrants who have advanced degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. This program would also eliminate the visa lottery, which currently distributes visas among citizens of countries with the lowest immigration rates. Any visas not distributed according to the “STEM” bill would not be re-distributed or carried over for the next year.
The STEM plan is flawed for several reasons, but most strikingly it counters every principal of the classic American Dream. By admitting only highly educated immigrants, Congress is implying that it is not possible for an uneducated immigrant to make a meaningful contribution to society. Contrary to the idyllic philosophy that America is the place where anyone can achieve success, Mr. Smith’s policy acknowledges the “reality” that a foreigner can succeed only if he or she has already acquired the necessary education and finances. The bill also fails to address the lack of education among American citizens. Rather than expanding education funding at all levels and encouraging American students to achieve STEM degrees, it appears that many Congressmen have acknowledged that many Americans simply do not have access to a decent higher education.
Finally, the STEM bill is ideologically flawed. Many of the less educated immigrants occupy lower-income jobs that many Americans, even in the midst of rampant unemployment, would not deign to fill. Though many people find the reality distasteful, there’s no way around the fact that immigrants are often willing and needed to fill the lower brackets of the work ladder. The visa lottery, then, is an indispensable method for attracting contributing members of society. Additionally, had there always been an education prerequisite for US immigration, very few of us would be able to call ourselves Americans. Many of my own family members came to America within the last half century in order to pursue an education.
It is fair to argue that America is not the land of opportunity that was promoted at the height of immigration in the early 20th century. But enacting a bill that mirrors Mr. Smith’s STEM plan would discourage lower-income citizens from pursuing an education. Undoubtedly there would be further stagnation between the social classes, and many of the higher income jobs would be occupied by immigrants. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing – but perhaps we should first encourage Americans to participate in these highly competitive job fields before giving up on our own education system and the many hard-working immigrants that would be left by the wayside under a STEM policy.