Microsoft supports plan for undocumented immigrants

08.04.2009
Microsoft sent a letter to two U.S. senators in support of a bill that would allow some undocumented immigrant students to become permanent U.S. residents if they go to college.

The letter is part of an ongoing initiative at the company to encourage new regulations that will allow more foreign workers into the U.S.

Sent to Senator Richard Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, and Senator Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana, the letter backs a bill they introduced called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.

"It is essential to our nation's competitiveness and success to nurture the talent we have and to incorporate bright, hardworking students into the workforce to become the next generation of leaders in this country," wrote Fred Humphries, managing director of U.S. government affairs for Microsoft, in the .

The bill would let immigrant students become permanent residents if they arrived in the U.S. as children, have lived here long-term, and attend college or enlist in the military for at least two years, Humphries said in a .

He estimates that 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school in the U.S. each year. The bill would allow some of them to move on to college and eventually get jobs in the country, he said.