This morning the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on high-skilled immigration reform.  The hearing is expected to focus on individual instances of abuse or gaming of the system, but the principal problem is far larger: the artificial limits on visas for high-skilled workers currently set in law are woefully inadequate to meet the needs of our economy.

As Stuart Anderson notes in Forbes, the data clearly shows that the American economy is in desperate need of individuals in “computer and mathematical science” as well as in “architecture and engineering.”  The right kind of reform would allow more of these skilled workers to come to America and contribute to the economy here in the United States.  In a letter to the senators leading the Senate committee, a number of business organizations point out that “there are not enough native-born [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or STEM] workers to fill available STEM jobs and foreign STEM workers are not displacing their native-born counterparts.”

Further, as a recent report from Business Roundtable illustrates, welcoming immigrant STEM workers to the United States not only grows the economy, but the added economic activity they generate creates more jobs for native-born Americans as well.  This “multiplier effect,” the report explains, results “when immigrants spend part of their income on rent, groceries, and other goods and services. These secondhand income flows continue to ripple through the economy, generating new income and supporting additional jobs for other workers — many of whom may be unaware that their job is partially supported by economic activity that originated with immigrant labor.”

Other countries have figured this out.  An upcoming Business Roundtable report will show that other advanced economies have tailored their immigration systems to better meet their economic needs and welcome foreign talent.  These countries have a leg up in the global economy as a result.