Passing immigration reform will do more than keep families together and put undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship: passing reform will also help boost national security.

The Washington Post reports that military spending cuts were recently announced, which will reduce the size of the U.S. army to pre-World War II levels. But Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel added that the government will be investing in new technologies. However, investing in new technologies will not be a successful endeavor without keeping immigrants in the U.S. who have come here to study science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

America's defense tactics depend on science and technology, but losing STEM students to outdated immigration laws could drain the U.S. of many of its best innovators.

President Obama has said that foreign graduate students who get STEM degrees need to stay in the U.S. and become citizens, but that action is tied to comprehensive immigration reform. Republicans also agree that STEM immigrants need to be granted citizenship, but they disagree with the comprehensive immigration reform bill that was passed in the Senate last June.

The legislation that was passed includes allowing immigrants with advanced degrees in STEM fields to become citizens. Yet, the comprehensive legislation has stalled in the House.

Gary Shapiro of The Washington Post suggests that stalled reform may move in the House if both parties consider the national security implications of passing reform.

Shapiro writes: "Perhaps the stalemate would end if both parties considered how continued deportation of STEM graduate students will cripple our national security?"

A study conducted last year by the National Foundation for American Policy found that in some STEM graduate programs, nearly 70 percent of the students are foreign-born. Also, more than $6 billion in taxpayer dollars given by the National Science Foundation to STEM research is spent on research that is done by foreign-born students. The U.S. is also continuing to draw in foreign-born STEM students; in 2009, there were almost 149,000 grad students studying in the United States.

STEM graduates also often go to big companies in Silicon Valley, or to start-ups or universities. The STEM students help boost national defense capabilities with their scientific innovations. However, once they graduate, they are often forced to go back to their home countries.

Linda Hudson, outgoing U.S. CEO of BAE, an international defense contractor, commented on how current immigration laws are stymying their ability to hire top national defense innovators.

"For the most part, in defense we are not permitted to hire foreign nationals," she said. "I cannot help but wonder if hobbling our ability to hire top scientists, mathematicians, programmers, and engineers who happen to have been born on foreign soil doesn't carry national security risks of its own."

Shapiro argues that Congress must act to encourage STEM students to stay in the country.

"We must encourage foreign students getting STEM graduate degrees from our best universities to stay here, providing them a quick pathway to citizenship," Shapiro writes.

"More, we have to establish mechanisms so these bright minds are able to get the necessary security clearance to work in the U.S. defense industry," he continues. "This isn't simply an economic issue - our national defense depends on it."