I very much doubt your number. Third world people who go to first world universities do fine, so that's 3 years, not 15. And for many jobs - even a very intellectual one like mine - I'm skeptical how much difference a degree really makes.

But these people are not the average third world people, they are presumably the ones fortunate enough to get a decent education in a country where many people don't.

If immigrants didn't have the skills that were needed to be productive, companies wouldn't want to hire them. Instead we see companies chafing at the H-1B limits and crying out for more immigration.

I'm certainly not arguing some crazy position like 'all immigrants are stupid.' I'm also guessing that these immigrants that companies desperately want to hire are mostly not from third world countries.