Reading the Reid-Schumer-Menendez "Conceptual Proposal for Immigration Reform" drives home the inherent paradox of fixing the immigration system:
The same group that broke it in the first place -- Congress -- would have to do the fixing.
Reid-Schumer-Menendez demonstrate they are not up to the task.
The foundation of current immigration system was set up in the Immigration Act of 1952. One of the rational aspects of that act was that it divided aliens entering the U.S. into immigrants and non-immigrants. In other words, there was a clear differentiation between those who were coming to America to visit and those who were coming to stay.
Over the years special interests have persuaded Congress to blur that distinction. Congress has removed inconvenience of having to leave the country to switch from a guest worker to an immigrant in order to create the convenience of long delays for green cards and placing prospective immigrants in a state of limbo.
If one analyzes the Reid-Schumer-Menendez proposal, one can identify the special interests that have control of the process. For example, one of the rational policies of the Immigration Act of 1952 was that student visas were not to be a path for immigration. We would admit foreign students allow them to learn about America, return home and serve as ambassadors.
That sound policy gets cast aside by Reid-Schumer-Menendez. Under their proposal student would be permitted to enter with immigrant intent if they intend to study a technology field. In addition:
a green card will be immediately available to foreign students with an advanced degree from a United States institution of higher education in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, and who possess an offer of employment from a United States employer in a field related to their degree.
That brings me to the reason for writing here: Moronic policy EQUALS profit opportunity.
In addition to selling degrees, Reid-Schumer-Menendez will confer upon universities that ability to sell immigration benefits. Universities will become the gatekeepers of immigration in America.
What I propose here is to get together a group of investors to buy an accredited university. It could already be a for-profit institution or one we could convert to for-profit.
Within this institution we would set up programs tailored to foreign students. This school would have an open admissions policy. We would have a curriculum that would not be too challenging.
I propose a program for foreign PhDs. A PhD is a research degree. At top schools there are no classroom requirements for a PhD. Our program would targeted towards those who already have PhDs from a foreign university. Give them some class time, have them rewrite or translate their thesis into English and confer a PhD. From there, we would do job placement and get green cards.
We would be doing the nation a great service. If PhD from a 5th-tier U.S. university is going to confer immigration benefits, should not a PhD from a top-tier school abroad confer the same benefits? We will fill that need, selling immigration benefits to the Cambridge and Oxford graduates of the world.
Masters degrees would likely be the bread-and-butter of the institution. Computer education has a high profit potential because of the relatively low overhead to maintain state-of-the-art facilities. Here, the Indian model of Masters of Computer Applications degrees would serve us well. The program would be short, nine months, and would allow our students to get their green cards quickly.
A realistic goal for such an institution would be to be to confer 100,000 green cards a year within 10 years.