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Why Silicon Valley Needs Immigration Reform
Thu, 01/31/2013 - 17:03 — adminFox Business
January 31, 2013
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The U.S. could keep graduate students here to create new jobs, new companies and, in some cases, new industries, said John Feinblatt, chairman of the Partnership for a New American Economy.
"We've got to face the fact that other countries are rolling out the red carpet for workers and we're not," Feinblatt said. Laws limiting the number of skilled employees allowed to work in the U.S. hamper the ability of some companies to grow, particularly in technology, and the nation misses out on a considerable ripple effect in wealth, according to Mr. Feinblatt.
The Partnership for a New American Economy is a bipartisan group of mayors and business leaders from all sectors of the economy. The organization, whose members include Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Chief Executive Steven Ballmer, Boeing Co. (BA) Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney and News Corp. (NWSA) Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, has studied the issue together with the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
Hatch wants more visas for skilled immigrants
Wed, 01/30/2013 - 19:03 — adminSalt Lake Tribune
January 29, 2013
A new immigration bill led by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, would greatly increase the number of foreign-born scientists and engineers who are allowed to live and work here.
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[Overstock.com President Jonathan] Johnson said his company is always looking for engineers and software developers and can’t find enough domestically, which has slowed the company’s growth.
"Frankly, they are hard to find and it makes no sense to me that we bring the world’s best and brightest here," he said. "We educate them, train them and then force them to leave the country and compete against us."
Obama Backs 'Startup Visas' For Foreign-Born Tech Entrepreneurs In Immigration Speech
Wed, 01/30/2013 - 14:31 — adminHuffington Post
January 30, 2013
President Obama on Tuesday called on Congress to create a special visa category that allows foreign-born entrepreneurs who launch successful startups to remain in the country.
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Obama's speech was praised by supporters of a startup visa.
His speech "shows that there is broad support to modernize our immigration system in a way that helps grow our economy and attract the world’s most talented and hardest-working," said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is co-chair of the Partnership For A New American Economy, a coalition of mayors and business leaders who support immigration reform.
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U.S. needs 21st century immigration plan
Tue, 01/29/2013 - 14:30 — adminCNN.com
January 29, 2013
The prospects for immigration reform just got a lot brighter. Eight leading senators, four Republicans and four Democrats, came together to announce on Monday their agreement on broad principles to modernize our immigration laws, which have been largely unchanged since 1965.
Since then, the world has changed dramatically and globalized markets have revolutionized our economy. But our antiquated immigration laws are still designed for an economy that existed when people were watching black and white TV.
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Immigration baby steps
Wed, 12/12/2012 - 13:03 — adminMinnesota Star Tribune
December 12, 2012
This month the House passed the STEM Jobs Act, a recycled, Republican-driven measure that increases the number of visas for immigrants earning advanced degrees in engineering, math, science and technology from U.S. universities. Senate Republicans introduced the "Achieve Act," which offers a reprieve for eligible undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.
Unfortunately, both measures have flaws. The Achieve Act fails to offer the pathway to citizenship included in the DREAM Act and, therefore, doesn't move the country forward. The STEM bill needlessly drives down overall immigration rates and eliminates the diversity lottery visa.
Despite their shortcomings, the measures hit on the key issues. Both parties see the wisdom in keeping immigrants who earn high-tech degrees in America's workforce rather than sending them back home to work for competitors.
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House immigration bill good for students and U.S.
Wed, 12/12/2012 - 12:48 — adminMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
December 12, 2012
bama administration and many Democrats are right about this: The immigration bill approved by the House late last month is not enough. The nation needs significant and widespread immigration reform that addresses guest worker issues and a path to citizenship for qualified undocumented workers.
And with Republicans apparently willing to move on the issue for the first time in years, 2013 could well be the year to achieve that real reform.
But critics of the House measure are also wrong: They should not turn up their noses at this bill because it doesn't achieve everything they want in one blow. If the STEM Jobs Act does some good things - and it does - approve it and then move on to other measures that will address immigration on a wider scale.
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A business leader’s view on why America’s immigration policy is a 'real threat' to its economy
Wed, 12/12/2012 - 12:27 — adminQuartz
December 7, 2012
The Republicans’ loss in the US presidential election last month has brought some of them to believe that they should take new steps to win the country’s fast-growing Hispanic population, many of which are first- or second-generation American immigrants. That includes making laws that better account for a population of some 11.1 million illegal immigrants.
But the immigration issues in the US go much deeper than an election. We spoke with Jonathan Johnson, the president of Overstock.com, a discount online shopping site, and a member of the Partnership for a New American Economy, a group of corporate executives that support immigration reform, about what current immigration policy has meant for his business.
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Poll: Most Back Path to Citizenship
Mon, 12/10/2012 - 16:34 — adminPolitico
December 10, 2012
Americans want amnesty.
A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground poll finds that 62 percent of those surveyed support an immigration reform proposal that would allow illegal or undocumented immigrants to earn citizenship over a period of several years. Thirty-five percent oppose it.
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Immigration Critical to the Creation of Jobs in Minnesota
Mon, 12/10/2012 - 16:27 — adminRochester Post-Bulletin
December 10, 2012
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Minnesota is getting older and is losing far too many of its young people to other parts of the country, so we're fortunate that immigrants from around the world see our state as a good place to raise their families, start businesses and pursue their version of the American dream.
When the rest of the country figures out that immigration is not only helpful but critical in the creation of new jobs and the filling of existing ones, we'll be ahead of the curve. And that realization might not be too far away.
'Our immigration policy is what I call national suicide,' Mayor Bloomberg says
Fri, 12/07/2012 - 14:38 — adminNew York Daily News
December 7, 2012
If the nation wants to lure the technology jobs of the future — and avoid a devastating crisis — it needs an immediate overhaul of its immigration laws, Mayor Bloomberg said Thursday.
“We are on the wrong side of global competition,” Bloomberg told influential business, technology and political leaders at the “STEM in the City” leadership summit produced by U.S. News & World Report, in association with the Daily News and the City University of New York.
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