TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Send Us Your Ph.Ds

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 28, 2008

I must confess I'm no great fan of George Will's writings, but in his column "Immigration Fuels American Innovation" (Other Views, June 26), I can see his point that the United States should relax its immigration laws to allow more educated people into this country. When Will sounds the clarion call to the world to "send us your Ph. D.s" (but keep your peasants home), it validates and reinforces my opinion. The point is brought into focus when one considers companies like Google, Yahoo and Intel, whose founders or co-founders include a Russian, a Chinese and a Hungarian Jew.

When I was a young man in college in Texas, one of our classmates was a good-looking Cuban student who earned a doctorate in computer science, a field in its infancy. Would you believe that major U.S. company recruiters were camping outside his dormitory with lucrative offers for him to join their companies? He turned them all down and chose to go into academia. Cuba's loss was the United States' gain.

Never let it be said that America does not need another immigrant, for without us the country will most likely wither and become a less vibrant and innovative society.

HUMBERTO A. CALDERON

Temple Terrace

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT