“To keep my edge, I must think and act like an immigrant.” Those are the words of Omid Kordestani, who was born in Iran, moved to California as a teenager, and became a senior vice president of Google. “There is a special optimism and drive that I have benefited from and continue to rely on that I want all of you to find,” he told a graduating class at San Jose State. “Immigrants are inherently dreamers and fighters.”

It’s important to keep Kordestani’s words in mind as Congress contemplates a new effort to pass immigration reform. The debate focuses mainly on the 12 million undocumented workers now in America, but another group is equally important: the highly educated immigrants who want to live and work in this country but are driven away by our stupid and self-defeating policies.

Every economist agrees – skilled immigrants are job-creating engines. Moreover, ideas have no boundaries. The United States will not prosper by making cheaper goods than Bangladesh; it will only grow richer by remaining a Mecca for innovation and imagination. Right now, we’re locked in a worldwide competition for the best and the brightest minds from around the world, and we’re falling behind.