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The anonymous scientific researcher who gave the following interview grew up in Allahabad, India, and came to the United States with his wife and child in 1969 to study for a doctoral degree in electrical engineering. After completing his degree, he accepted a job with a forge corporation just west of Boston.

He and his family are part of the "new immigration" to the United States after 1965, when national quotas were dropped in favor of promoting family reunification and the immigration of skilled labor. More than 24,000 Indians arrived between 1966 and 1970, one-third of them being classified as "professional, technical, or kindred workers."

However, even if many of the new Asian Indian immigrants come from the professional class, and even if many, like the researcher, find employment in their fields of specialization, many cannot find work commensurate with their training. Many college-educated...