This Forbes article suggests that the United States has succeeded so greatly in the field of innovation because of our country’s diversity and ability to attract the best minds from across the world.
“More than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants (90 companies) or by their children (an additional 114 companies)…The cost of creating innovation teams around [foreign nationals] would be far less—and the chance of success far greater—if we could be certain that those we recruit will be here for the longer run. Increasing the allocations of and more strategically implementing H1-B visas is crucial.”