CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The contraption sits in a basement lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a mish-mash of hoses, wires, whirring pumps and a 12-foot high plastic tower filled with dripping water, all set on plastic milk crates.
It looks like a high school science project, but it was developed by two post-doctoral mechanical engineers at MIT. And it just might be a break-through that creates wealth and jobs in the United States and transforms the white-hot industry of oil and natural gas hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
That is, as long as the foreign-born inventors aren’t forced to leave the country.
Anurag Bajpayee and Prakash Narayan Govindan, both from India, have started a company to sell the system to oil companies that are desperate for a cheaper, cleaner way to dispose of the billions of gallons of contaminated water produced by fracking.
Oil companies have flown them to Texas and North Dakota. They say they are about to close on millions of dollars in financing, and they anticipate hiring 100 employees in the next couple of years. Scientific American magazine called water-decontamination technology developed by Bajpayee one of the top ten
“world-changing ideas”
of 2012.
But their student visas expire soon, both before July, and because of the restrictive U.S. visa system, they may have to move their company to India or another country. “We love it here,” said Bajpayee, a cheerful 27-year-old in an argyle sweater and jeans. “But there are so many hoops you have to jump through. And you risk getting deported while you are creating jobs.”
Much of the current immigration debate in Washington has centered on the 11 million undocumented migrants in the country. But, from the halls of MIT to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, business and academic leaders are more focused on what they call an even greater threat to the U.S. economy: immigration laws that chase away highly skilled foreigners educated in U.S. universities, often with degrees funded by U.S. taxpayers.
While other countries are actively recruiting foreign-born U.S. graduates, the United States has strict limits on visas for highly skilled workers that often lead to waiting lists of many years. And unlike Canada and other countries, the U.S. offers no specific visa for young entrepreneurs like Bajpayee and Narayan who want to start a new business in America.
“These are bright people who want to stay and make this country more competitive, and we treat them like dirt and drive them away,” said Vivek Wadhwa, an entrepreneur and academic who writes frequently about immigration and the “reverse brain drain.”
President Obama supports making it easier for foreigners who earn master’s degrees or PhDs at U.S. universities to get green cards, and so does a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators who recently announced their immigration reform proposals. The idea has wide support, but it is stuck in partisan infighting over how to craft comprehensive reforms that address both skilled and unskilled immigrants.
Other countries court skilled immigrants frustrated by U.S. visa laws
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Other countries court skilled immigrants frustrated by U.S. visa laws
