The United States has long thought of itself as a melting pot; however, there are less skilled immigrants arriving in the country than was once the case. This is according to a new study conducted by data scientists, who looked at millions of profiles on social media site LinkedIn.
While America is still educated immigrants’ most popular choice of destination, their number has reduced by almost 50% over the course of the last ten years. Around 37% of people with qualifications in science, engineering, maths and technology fields were skilled immigrants back in 2000; however, researchers found that this number had fallen to 15% in 2012.
Perhaps even more surprising is the news that the figure of 24% of college graduates coming to the US from the top 500 universities in the world in 2012 has now fallen to 12%. This drop is significant enough for immigration officials in the US to propose ways in which to attract and retain a greater number of immigrant workers, with these ideas among the changes expected to be implemented by President Obama’s executive action on immigration reform.
“The United States continues to occupy a central place in the global migration system,” the study claims. “However, its domination position is no longer indisputable.” More and more skilled immigrants have eschewed the US in favor of Asia in recent years.