There is a demand for people with scientific and data skills and not enough natives hold these qualifications. However, I do agree that the education system is broken and the main reason why native born citizens don’t pursue higher studies is that they are usually under the burden of large educational loans.
There is also a smaller issue that liberal arts is a common choice for American students, which makes many of them unemployable. However, perhaps due to cultural pressure, many Indians and Chinese end up in science and engineering, which are in very high demand.
I can't think of one successful tech leader with one. I'm sure there are many but they stopped being included when they discuss successes.
I think it’s not just devaluing the PhD, it’s changing it from something that gets you a job in research, hopefully academia, to in many cases just another credential to help you in the immigration process and getting a coveted American job.
The sweet spot, in terms of ROI, is to get a bachelors degree and go immediately into industry. The student shows they are competent enough to succeed on their own at a school environment where they have a nonzero probability of failure. For foreigners they stay in school for as long as possible so their green card can process. It’s not worth the risk of working for a company where they can be fired immediately and sent home, and it’s likewise not worth the cost of an h1b to companies for an undergrad. Since we graduate more phds every year than academia can absorb into teaching positions the green card process is effectively subsidizing postgrad programs, where the product is Indians and Chinese (primarily) who are desperate to get a high paying job in industry. Look up the numbers if you’d like.
At a societal level this is disastrous as it means that we have many foreign born who disproportionately hold the highest paying positions in society. Prosperity gospel and American exceptionalism aside this just leads to mass discontent and nationalism. It’s hard to argue they are wrong - why should a native born American allow a foreigner to take the highest paid jobs if given a choice? This leads (among other ways the country ignores and marginalizes poor native born citizens) to the election of people like Donald Trump.
This is not to say foreigners are bad - they often come from hard places where life isn’t easy. The real villains in this story are the aristocrats of the education empire. “More money for me and fuck everyone else,” seems like a common refrain these days.