The presidents from the Kentucky public university system have written a letter to the U.S. state legislators - Republicans Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, Tuesday, urging them to review the immigration policies.
The letter says that American universities comprise of international students who leave the country once they complete the program and take their knowledge and skill sets to competing economies due to the current immigration system.
An excerpt from the letter:
"As we send away highly skilled workers trained at Kentucky and other American universities, competing international economies are welcoming these scientists and engineers."
The presidents are requesting a bipartisan solution that allows these international graduates to obtain a green card.
Washington, DC- based organization, the Association of International Educators, reported that around 765,000 foreign students attended U.S. universities in the 2011-12 academic year.
Out of the 765,000 students, University of Kentucky, Lexington welcomed approximately 1,640 international students.
Currently, the U.S. immigration policy allows for 140,000 employment-based admissions, applicable to workers' spouses and children.
Last year, Republicans tried to address this issue by passing the 'STEM Jobs Act' but the Senate Democrats blocked the bill.
Referring to the failed Republican visa bill, Paul, a junior senator from Kentucky said, "I remain in support of immigration reform that both secures our border and modernizes our visa system."
In another attempt to solve this problem, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced a new bill, January, to increase the number of visas for highly skilled workers.
