http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2016/03/17/study-immigrants-founded-51-of-u-s-billion-dollar-startups/
Recent Wall Street Journal article highlights a recent study, which showed that immigrants started more than half of the current crop of U.S.-based startups valued at $1 billion or more. Despite the lengthly and cumbersome process to be become a US citizen these immigrants are still making an impact on U.S. startups by utilizing H1-B visas. These visas do not guarantee citizenship and equate to another risk factor when starting a business. With the impeding presidential election on the horizon these issues may become even more important no just at the border but for Silicon Valley.
This was very interesting to read, and especially timely with the upcoming presidential election. I didn’t realize these visas were capped at 85,000. No wonder it’s so difficult to get one. Immigrants certainly contribute significantly to our economy, and specifically our tech industry. Hopefully policy makers can find a way to capitalize on these entrepreneurs interest in working in the US while balancing other interests.
I agree with Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates that the number of these visas should be increased. I would allow any immigrant who graduates from an American university that has a job to obtain a visa. It was interesting to me that 70% of the executives in the companies looked at were immigrants.
It saddens me that the media has been focusing so much on the negative affects that immigration has on the U.S., I wish that more Americans were looking at this type of information! We ignore how difficult it is for foreigners to legally immigrate to this country. Although I am not advocating illegal immigration, it is understandable why some people are willing to take such desperate measures to get here.