Exceptional by Design

How to Fix High-Skilled Immigration to Maximize American Interests

By Adam Ozimek, Connor O’Brien, and John Lettieri

High-skilled immigration is America’s not-so-secret weapon, a vital driver of economic growth, innovation, and national strength. Yet today, our system is falling short—failing to prioritize the highest achievers, burdening American businesses with red tape, and leaving broad swathes of the country behind.

This report offers a new way to look at skilled immigration, starting with a fuller understanding of its economic benefits than what skilled immigration advocates and critics have to offer. It debunks common myths about how immigration policy works in practice and rethinks the longstanding assumption that our immigration system should be primarily concerned with filling supposed labor shortages.

Finally, this report proposes a suite of reforms to modernize and expand our skilled immigration system. Its recommendations would build an immigration system that is friendly to job-creating entrepreneurs, boosts critical industries with national security implications, contributes to regional revitalization, and reduces the nation’s deficit. Most importantly, they would improve economic opportunities for American workers and communities.