Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the U.S. (Business Week, Yahoo! News)

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2009/tc20090228_990934.htm

March 3, 2009
By Vivek Wadhwa

The recent study Wadhwa refers to, lead by Wadhwa himself and put out by the Kauffman Foundation, can be found in pdf format here. Wadhwa writes:

We find that, though restrictive immigration policies caused some returnees to depart the United States, the most significant factors in the decision to return home were career opportunities, family ties, and quality of life.

This is in line with similar studies I have read; however, this study is by far the most comprehensive - and possibly the most explicitly biased, as it's put out by the Kauffman Foundation which mainly aims to "advance entrepreneurship" (i.e. view migrants as labor) but more soon after I read the entire study.

Canada may decrease immigration numbers (CIC News)

http://www.cicnews.com/2009/02/canada-decrease-immigration-targets-nows-time-submit-application-02700.html

February 2009
by Citizenship and Immigration Canada News in Canada Immigration Newsletter

This really shows the Immigration Minister's relatively-new immense power thanks to bill C-50, passed last June in 2008 (CBC article here, No One Is Illegal's take on it here). Not only will Canada likely accept less immigrants, but those immigrants will be more carefully (and explicitly, legally) selected based on market demands.

Scientists Fear Visa Trouble Will Drive Foreign Students Away (New York Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/science/03visa.html

March 3, 2009
By CORNELIA DEAN

"And the United States can no longer assume that this country is everyone’s first choice for undergraduate, graduate or postgraduate work" - definitely true.

Welcome!

As a graduate student studying geography and migration, this is a blog to aggregate articles I casually read/see in popular media and comment on them. I grew up in the US and now live in Canada, so you can expect a certain geographical bias. Also - this blog by no means attempts to be exhaustive! - but is rather a casual running commentary. Please feel free to send me articles, videos, etc. for posting. My email address can be found here: http://www.sfu.ca/~lrb5/ as can a brief bio of myself. Thanks!