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WASHINGTON, DC — Indian talent is essential for the US to maintain its leadership in the field of innovation and research, a top Republican senator has said, amid the ongoing controversy over immigration under the Donald Trump administration.
“We need that (Indian) talent to come in and fill these jobs if we want to continue to be the leader in innovation and in research,” Senator Thom Tillis from North Carolina told a group of Indian Americans at an event organized on Capitol Hill last week by the US-India Friendship Council and US-India Business Council.
As part of the effort to retain Indian talent, who come to the US for higher studies with most of them being in the field of STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics), Tillis favored the idea of giving green cards along with their degrees.
Referring to the shortage of talented people in certain areas like science and technology, Tillis said he would have had a different opinion if there was enough talent within the country.
“These are very, very important jobs for the US to continue to maintain its competitive advantage as the greatest innovative nation that has ever existed,” Tillis said.
Tillis is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee wherein he has an important role to play in immigration reform, in particular those related to visas.
Before joining politics, Tillis was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, prior to which he worked with people in Bengaluru and Mumbai on a daily basis.