Microsoft Proposes New STEM Green Cards

Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith told a live Brookings Institution and streamed video audience that the company proposed immigration reforms that would fund STEM education. The proposal is detailed in Microsoft's White Paper that was released on September 27, 2012, contemporaneously with the Brookings' event.

The two part proposal features:  

1. Invest more in STEM education by focusing on better teachers and higher standards in K-12 education, increasing the number of computer science courses in high schools and colleges, and focusing on the “college completion crisis” where half of American students drop-out before getting their degree. Smith called on Congress to put $500 million per year behind the effort, sending that money to the states based upon a competitive process.
2. Raising federal revenue to pay for the $500 million per year effort by insourcing skilled labor to fill those unfilled jobs today -- adding 20,000 new visas for workers with STEM skills at a cost of $10,000 each and 20,000 new green cards for workers with STEM skills at a cost of $15,000 each.