In the ten years post the September 11 acts of terror against the United States (U.S.) and the more recent economic downturn in the U.S., the issue of immigration reform has been basically an anathema to the public and our legislators. Any interest in reforming antiquated immigration laws has been replaced with numerous border and national security initiatives to the almost total exclusion of reforming our dysfunctional immigration laws to improve the U.S. economy. Thus, to conclude that the U.S. has any sort of true overall strategic plan using immigration policy to its full potential to improve our stagnant economy would be erroneous.

On the one hand, the U.S. wishes to improve its attractiveness to foreign investors as recently evidenced by the announcement of U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director, Alejandro Mayorkas....