Science: In his speech last week, President Obama proposed several new immigration policies, some of which would directly affect the US research community, particularly those in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Among them is a proposal to allow more foreign STEM students at US universities to work full-time and make it easier for foreign STEM researchers to seek green cards and begin work on projects that already have substantial US investor financing. Also, multinational companies would have more latitude in moving skilled workers from foreign facilities to US operations and shifting those already in the US to “same or similar” jobs. Although high-tech industries had hoped for more, some labor unions, scholars, and professional groups point out that the new policies could threaten job possibilities and wages for native-born scientists and engineers.
