In late May, thousands of American-educated immigrants walked across stages at our most acclaimed universities to receive advanced diplomas in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Many of these distinguished men and women will carry the acquired knowledge, skill-set, and professional relationships to start businesses, secure innovative patents, and contribute to the economic vitality of their communities.

Only, those communities will be in countries like China, South Korea, and Canada — not here in the United States.

Instead of creating American jobs and spurring the next wave of Googles , Apples , and Fords in this country, these promising grads will leave our shores to set up competitor businesses in competitor nations.

The United States used to pride itself on attracting and keeping the ablest high-skilled immigrants from around the world.

In fact, more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies in the United States were founded by immigrants or their children, employing more than 10 million workers.

Iconic American brands such as IBM, Goldman Sachs and AT&T were founded or co-founded by immigrants.

But today, arbitrary immigration caps are forcing almost 20,000 American-educated degree holders to leave our country every year.

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