Bangladesh, Oct. 18 -- America's universities have a curious explanation for importing foreign workers: apparently, the world's most prestigious academic institutions cannot find enough Americans who know accounting, operate Excel spreadsheets, or conduct scientific research. Stanford University, a global symbol of American intellectual excellence, offers a revealing case study in how temporary work visas may be serving institutional financial interests rather than filling genuine gaps in the domestic labor market.

The issue is not whether foreign professionals can contribute to American science and industry. They clearly can. The question is whether universities are using temporary visa programs to recruit genuinely scarce expertise-or ...