问答题

America is damaging itself by making it too difficult for talented people to enter the country. The dominant images in America’’s immigration debate are now well established: illegal immigrants marching in the streets of Los Angeles or Chicago; angry congressmen demanding that the United States regain control of its borders. It is to be hoped that America will find a fair way to legalize the status of the masses who have risked so much to get there. America’’s high-tech industries have been powered to a remarkable degree by people born outside the country. The science and engineering departments of America’’s leading universities have drawn the brightest graduate students from around the world. A great many have stayed and created wealth for themselves and the country they chose to settle in. But fears about national security and concerns about economic insecurity mean that America is in danger of cutting off this vital flow of talent. In a recent letter to Congress, Bill Gates warned that the lack of visas and "green cards" for skilled workers was threatening American competitiveness "as other countries benefit from the international talent that US employers cannot hire or retain." The situation is so clearly perilous to the American economy that Congress seems likely to do something about it, if and when it finally passes an immigration bill. But the likeliest remedy — increasing the number of visas and green cards for skilled workers does not go far enough. Ultimately, the United States should move towards a regime in which any person offered a legitimate job by an American employer is allowed to take it up. Even if fears about competition from low-wage labor make that politically impossible, there is still a strong case for accepting skilled immigrants with offers of work. Other parts of the world are already acting. The Australians, Canadians and Swiss have been successful in attracting foreign talent, by adopting a points-based immigration system which favors the highly skilled. The 25 countries of the European Union have been less successful, but some are trying to catch up. The need to lure in (吸引) skilled East Europeans helped persuade four more EU members this week to embrace the free movement of labor. To cast the debate in terms of threats and competition is partly to miss the point. America’’s top universities and high-tech industries are a magnet for the world’’s talent — and the whole world has benefited from the results. It is in everyone’’s interests that America gets its immigration policy right. What are the major reasons for America to cut off the flow of talents around the world to America