US should make better use of its skilled Asian immigrants

Having an "Asian" face with a "US ambassador" title, I have often been asked where I am really from. Or, perhaps more politely, just how many generations back did my family emigrate from Asia to the US?

I am generally forgiving, even to the comments of how good my English is, as no ill will is intended. And often it reflects the speaker's, American or not, own experiences with immigration and immigrants.

For numerous countries in the Asia-Pacific region, immigration remains a contentious issue. Consider Australia's controversial efforts to intercept at sea a new generation of "boat people" fleeing impoverished, strife-torn nations. Or reflect on Japan's own much-documented immigration laws effectively barring many ethnic Koreans from becoming citizens despite years of living, and indeed being born, there.

Even in the US, perhaps the nation best known as a land of immigrants and their descendants, the debate rages on.

However, there is at least one area where all US political parties should be able to come together for meaningful, near-term action: focusing on the untapped potential of the many skilled men and women who have already come to the US through legal channels. This includes tens of thousands from India, China and elsewhere in Asia.

Unfortunately, this issue has generally been overlooked amid the focus on the flow of unauthorised, low-skilled immigrants - the vast majority from south of the border.

The larger US debate on immigration should not stand in the way of making smaller-scale updates to what has been the traditional path forward for many seeking the American dream.