Or, we could have just made it easier for skilled workers from other countries to immigrate to the United States. 30 years ago (or even 5 years ago) I'm sure most of them would have happily immigrated to the US for a higher standard of living and better wages, and both they and the United States would be in a stronger position.
IMO if a foreign adversary spends 20+ years and tens of thousands of dollars (at a minimum) training a highly skilled worker we would be insane not to take that skilled worker for free, if they want to move and work here.
The problem was not lack of skilled labour here, though it is now, but rather the high cost of that skilled labour here, then and now. You can let in a skilled worker from Czechia or Romania but the expected wage here will be much higher than that of a Chinese worker, and they will be unemployed because the American designer of the product will get it made in China.
You're missing the point. If all of China's top skilled labor moves to the US, even if they are cheaper then any manufacturer that needs the highest quality will have no choice but to manufacture in the US.
Limiting immigration of highly skilled workers is a massive national security failure. It's a huge mistake. If a Chinese or Russian top tier engineer / AI researcher / wants to immigrate to the US we should roll out the red carpet because they're a strategic asset.
IMO if a foreign adversary spends 20+ years and tens of thousands of dollars (at a minimum) training a highly skilled worker we would be insane not to take that skilled worker for free, if they want to move and work here.