Business and the Workforce
Immigrants not only bring diverse skills and perspectives to the U.S. workforce, they often fill employment gaps in crucial fields. We advocate for expanded work visas and related programs so our labor force can continue to benefit from immigrant workers and remain competitive in the global economy
Jamaican Immigrant Helps U.S. Kids to Help U.S. Companies
Peter Burns was born in Kingston, in Jamaica, and moved to the United States when he was 12 years old. Today, Burns works for Nokia, bringing communications infrastructure to cities across the country. In this position, he has seen the great degree to which the nation’s immigrants benefit the economy. Read More
For Successful Executive, Immigration is a Part of the Family History
Today, Sunny Lu Williams is a successful corporate executive who has brokered deals with Google and HTC, but she still remembers the day many years ago when her grandfather—a Chinese rice-farmer and later military man—spread some colorful banknotes on the table in front of her. The crumpled New Taiwan dollars… Read More
Refugees Help Manufacturing Firm Remain in South Dakota
South Dakota has an enviable problem, at least for workers: The state has a consistently low unemployment rate, typically about half the national average. This spring it dropped to 2.5 percent, the lowest in the country. For businesses, however—which are drawn to the state for its friendly tax… Read More
St. Louis Lawyer Sees Businesses Falter When Immigration Policy Blocks Foreign Hires
A senior partner at Polsinelli, a law firm in St. Louis, Doreen Dodson often works with American businesses that want to hire talented foreign nationals. “Many of these companies want international employees with a specialized skill set, ranging from medical technologists and computer scientists to professional winemakers,” she says. Read More
Ancestry.Com’s Immigration Policy And Lack of High-Skilled American Workers Is Hurting The Company
A revolutionary new DNA product experience at Ancestry.com, a $2.6-billion business, would not have been possible without the contributions of Yong Wang, a senior data scientist, who came to the United States on a visa for extraordinary researchers. Wang’s specialized skill set helped create a product that connects people in more than 30 countries… Read More
“Painful” How U.S. Immigration Policy Sends Talent Abroad, Says Leader of St. Louis Regional Chamber
Joe Reagan first became aware of the important role immigrants play in economic growth during his tenure as president of Greater Louisville, Inc., the city’s chamber of commerce. “I saw that welcoming people from all over the world was key to our economic and social success,” he says. Today, Reagan… Read More
Lawsuit Against DHS and USCIS Seeks Transparency in H-1B Lottery Process
Each year, U.S. employers seeking highly skilled foreign professional workers submit petitions on the first business day of April to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for the limited pool of H-1B nonimmigrant visa numbers available for the coming fiscal year, which are capped at 65,000 for new hires… Read More
With Four Languages to Offer, Mexican Immigrant Helps Pennsylvania Companies Make Money in Latin America
When Guillermo Velazquez left Mexico at age 26 to take an internship at the World Trade Center Pittsburgh, he actually planned to return home. But within a month he was a offered a job by the Trade Center, which valued his international business background and ability to speak four languages. Read More
Being an Immigrant Makes Adele Dorfner Roth the Perfect Person to Bring International Trade to Ohio
Adele Dorfner Roth shows exactly how a diverse city government can help spur economic growth. She came to the United States from Brazil as a small child when her father, an engineer, was hired by Mohawn, the Akron-based tire company. “He’s a huge risk taker,” Roth says. “Like most immigrants,… Read More
Immigrant Student Lands Dream Job, Leads Alaskan Town’s Economic Revival
Xi Cui received her Master’s from the University of Florida at a time when jobs were scarce. It was 2010, and the country was still struggling from the recession. Cui, who’d come from China to study urban planning, couldn’t find a Florida-based company that could afford to sponsor her work… Read More
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