Mr. Gates Goes to Washington

There are many areas with which I would tend to disagree with Bill Gates. But with the current anti-immigration sentiments of legislators, his testimony today before the House Committee on Science and Technology to argue for more H1-B visas for skilled foreign workers in the area of computer science reflects a pragmatic understanding of the global job market. Gates argues that the U.S. has many incentives to keep Ph.D.s who are foreign nationals inside the country, in light of the national diversity represented in today's computer science departments and corporate R&D programs.

Against Gates' argument, the Programmers Guild has an energetic digital rhetoric presence, which includes an anti-immigration blog and a YouTube channel. The latter outlet includes a whistle-blower video about unethical job advertisement practices in the technology sector to satisfy PERM requirements with "fake ads."