FortySouth

Vivek Wadhwa of Businessweek notes a fact that many have already suspected – many highly skilled immigrants are leaving the US in large numbers to return to their home countries  for a better life and be close to family.

Why should Americans care?

Because immigrants are critical to the country’s long-term economic health. Despite the fact that they constitute only 12% of the U.S. population, immigrants have started 52% of Silicon Valley’s technology companies and contributed to more than 25% of our global patents. They make up 24% of the U.S. science and engineering workforce holding bachelor’s degrees and 47% of science and engineering workers who have PhDs. Immigrants have co-founded firms such as Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), eBay (EBAY), and Yahoo! (YHOO).

I think this is one of those issues that’s always going to have an argument on both sides of the same coin – protectionism versus comprehensive immigration reform. Continue reading