The president and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has criticized the current U.S. immigration system and urges for a reform.

"Our immigration system makes it difficult for these talented people to stay and study in the United States,"saidGates in an interview with CNN.

Gates cited the example of the difficulties that Microsoft, has to face to hire young foreign students who have just graduated from a U.S. university.

As an example he mentioned that the future of a Berkeley college student, born abroad, with a wonderful education that Microsoft offers a job depends on whether the government allows him to stay," he said.

"And most of those students are told they cannot stay, they must leave the U.S.," he lamented.Gates referred especially to the areas of technology and computing, "It makes no sense to take those students after training them," he added.

However, the founder of Microsoft recognized that these obstacles are part of larger problem such as illegal immigration, which he described as "difficult". "These students situation has nothing to do with illegal immigration" he said.

Gates´s statements came a day after President Barack Obama presented a plan for a comprehensive immigration reform.

Obama´s proposal includes, among other measures, strengthening border security, a path to legalization and eventual citizenship for undocumented, sanctions for businesses that hire illegal immigrants and improvements in the visa system for the U.S.