[lutorm]

It seemed to me that the OP did not argue they brought more value than an American programmer but that the US is better off with them than without them.

The question is what the "proper process" is for them becoming citizens, isn't it? It seems logical to me that the process should be different for someone who's graduated from a US university than an imported H1B worker (but then I'm one of the former, so I'm not unbiased.)