U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss ruled that the government unlawfully canceled Petrova's J-1 visa, stating that the government failed to cite any authority allowing Customs and Border Protection officers to cancel the visa for failing to declare the embryos.
Naturalization is often the best, most logical path forward for those without the necessary family ties or funds. It involves living legally in the country for a set number of years, demonstrating familiarity with the language, and sometimes passing a test on history, culture, and the political system.
Last fall, President Donald Trump's executive order raising the fee for H-1B visas to $100,000 - like many of his immigration policies - led to near-immediate chaos. Thousands of workers who had flown overseas to renew their visas ended up stranded abroad. Details about who would be affected only emerged after the fact.
Brain drain refers to circumstances in which highly trained experts from underdeveloped and overexploited countries migrate to wealthier international job markets. Such loss of human capital can be catastrophic for a nation's development, as a shortage of trained workers tends to strain critical sectors like healthcare and education. Now the United States government - which once fielded as many as 281,000 scientists and engineers - is experiencing a similar phenomenon.