It seems like every week I’m meeting or working with people from Delaware companies that are growing specifically because of the ingenuity and insights from immigrant workers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) field.
Unfortunately, the views expressed in a recent Delaware Voice column by John Garrity represent an attitude that leads to policies that harm the very workers he’s trying to help.
The fundamental worldview of those who advocate an isolationist policy seems to center on a stagnant and shortsighted understanding of technology and societal change. The thinking goes something like this: Jobs that exist today are the only jobs that will exist in the future; we have a limited supply of jobs, so we must protect them for us and others like us.
That viewpoint does not reflect the reality of the world in which we live.
The fact is we all benefit from programs like the Immigration Innovation (“I-Squared”) Act. By encouraging entrepreneurs and STEM workers to bring their ideas, insights and ingenuity to the U.S., we create new opportunities for workers and the possibility of opening up whole new industries.
