In addition, though studies suggest that the short-term economic benefits of immigration are relatively small, and that unskilled workers may suffer from competition, skilled immigrants can be important to particular sectors – and to long-term growth. There is a strong correlation between the number of visas for skilled applicants and patents filed in the US.
此外，尽管研究表明短期移民的经济利益相对较小，低技能工人将因竞争而遭受打击，但高技移民对于某些特定部门十分重要，对长期增长也是如此。美国专利申请数量和高技能人士签证申请数量呈现强相关。21世纪初，中国和印度出生的工程师开创了一半的硅谷技术企业，销售总额达到了178亿美元；1995—2005年，美国所有新开技术企业中有四分之一来自移民。移民及其子辈建立了2010年《财富》500强公司的近四成。