The USA’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this week that it was proposing new rules that would “attract and retain” highly skilled immigrants and it has earmarked nationals from Chile, Singapore and Australia as among those immigrants it would like to encourage to remain in the USA to work. The White House also organised a press briefing to underline its commitment to 100,000 Strong in the Americas.
The two main new DHS proposals that is has published are related to the right of some spouses of immigrant-workers to also seek employment, and also to Chilean, Singaporean and Australian researchers, scholars and “highly skilled transitional workers” to remain in the USA to work.
Marlene M. Johnson, executive director and CEO of NAFSA, commented, “We applaud the Obama Administration for making immigration reform a priority and pushing these rules forward through the regulatory process.”
US Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, noted, “The fact is, we must do more to retain and attract world-class talent to the United States and these regulations put us on a path to doing that. These actions promise to unleash more of the extraordinary contributions that immigrants have always made to America’s innovation economy.”
Even in the USA’s neighbour Mexico, there is not the level of exchange that the USA would like to see
In the same week, the State Department hosted a background media briefing to promote its strong support of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas initiative, which President Obama has endorsed and which aims to boost inbound and outbound education exchange between the USA and central/South America and encourage business to host internships and donate to the programme.
“The ability of young people to acquire skills necessary to operate in the 21st century [via a global education] is a key component to the security of the USA,” stated an administration official.
While it is hoped that education exchange can be expanded in countries where there has not been historical ties with the US, one official confirmed that even in the USA’s neighbour Mexico, there is not the level of exchange that the USA would like to see.
Ensuring Spanish language levels required to enable study in the Americas did continue to present a challenge, it was acknowledged.
The value to industry of participating in 100,000 Strong, either via internships or donating to the programme, was also highlighted. A case study was cited of an aerospace company in the USA that had offered internships to Brazilian students on the Science without Borders programme, with a very positive outcome.
“Companies most interested will be those with international operations, seeking to buy and sell [in the region],” confirmed an administration official.
