Google vs US immigration policy

Google is taking on the US immigration system, which it says is limiting the flow of talent to its US operations. In a fascinating blog post, Google's policy council Pablo Chavez derides the country's stinginess with H-1B visas, the temporary permits given to foreign-born workers with specialised skills.

"Immigrants from countries like Canada, Iran, and Switzerland now lead our business operations, global marketing, global business development, and data infrastructure operations," writes Chavez. "Without these talented employees and many others, Google would not be where it is today... Over the last year alone, the artificially low cap on H-1B visas has prevented more than 70 Google candidates from receiving H-1B visas."

Sergey Brin himself, of course, is an emigree of what was the Soviet Union, and Laszlo Bock - Google's vice-president of people operations - fled communist Romania as a child. That's Bock in the clip below, testifying to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration "about the practical impact that the US immigration system has on Google". Apparently his mum was there too, and received a standing ovation from everyone present.