Letting someone be an immediate citizen from some overwhelming need is about the same as getting married after one red hot date without using birth control.

I run a small successful 20+ year old silicon valley consulting business full time, but also teach science at a public school. It amazes me the way technologists have abandoned American schools, which in essence, abandons American children. As a holder of an Intel award for excellence in teaching, the Fed Standards for my physical science curriculum have eliminated electricity, light, sound and magnetism. It isn't just that the all-important tests don't cover these subjects, but that if I teach them, I can be fired for drifting from the federal mandates. Our new textbook by the same publisher has been shortened by nearly 200 pages as they dropped these topics. 'And then your columnist just blithely suggests that we just simply import what our schools CANNOT provide - by Federal law. This is just so amazing that I have decided to drop the service to public education and go full time with my company after the next season. Thank you for your non-support of American schools. Thanks to all of you who think this way for your abandonment of American childred. Who needs Osama to take us down?

Not only are lowering Educcation Standards to meet Federal Testing Standards were ending many Technology Programs and teaching software only courses that embed only one software makers programs instead of teaching technology that lies behind this software makers programs. Programing is almost non existant at the High School level.
jim

I agree with Tony. I see no evidence there is any great shortage of programmers in the US. I have been trying to move to Texas for some time now and while potential employers all state I am very qualified they not only do not want to pay relocation costs (which I am willing to bear) they just flat don't want to work with an out of state applicant. Texas, it seems, has all the programmers it needs.

A pox on your idea. If we continue to import cheap labor and / or export all our manufacturing and now high tech jobs we are going to destroy the US middle class. And that is a recipe for social unrest. Just ask Mexico, Brasil, Uruguay....

Corporations are chartered by the states in which they operate. It seems feasible, for a state legislature to revoke the charter of a corporation that discriminates against American job applicants. I suggest that unemployed American software engineers schedule a visit to the office of their state legislator. Ask your elected representative to initroduce legislation to revoke the charter of a specific company that has demonstrated anti-American hiring practices. The negative economic consequences of a specific charter revocation might be insignificant, because the suspension of operations by the de-chartered corporation would cause a vacuum that would promptly be filled by its competitors. The advantage of the "charter revocation" strategy is that its implementation in any one of the 50 states would send a message to corporations that discriminate against American citizens. The message is that they will not be allowed to operate in a given state, if they engage in anti-American business practices. ..... What can you do today? ..... Call three friends who are retired I.T. professionals, and ask them to join you for a scheduled visit to your state senator's office. If your state legislator refuses to meet with you, send him a photo-copy of the $500 check that you will send to his opponent/party in the upcoming election. If your state legislator takes action to prevent discrimination against Americans, then write a $500 check to his campaign committee. Either way, your legislator will never forget you; nor will he forget the importance of anti-discrimination as a campaign issue. Democracy can work for you, if you make it work for you.