Musk is right that we should want to get exceptionally gifted people into the country, and the immigration hawks are right that the H1-B program, which awards temporary visas to skilled immigrants, is scammy and poorly designed. This ideological fight highlights a major flaw in our immigration system, which relies heavily on connections rather than on skills and employment prospects.
We give out about 1.1 million green cards a year, and only a slice are awarded on the basis of skills or employment prospects - about 16%. This significant underutilization of our capacity to attract skilled labor translates into a missed opportunity for economic growth and innovation.
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