Business & the Workforce
Immigrant Tax Contributions and the Future of the U.S. Economy
When it comes to the topic of immigration, Tax Day is a reminder of two important and often-overlooked points. First, immigrants pay billions in taxes every year. This is true even of unauthorized immigrants. Second, the federal government spends billions of taxpayer dollars each year on immigration-enforcement measures that wouldn’t be necessary if not for the chronic inability of Congress to reform our badly outdated immigration system. In other words, there is a strong fiscal case to be made for immigration reform. Were the U.S. immigration system to be given a 21st century overhaul, we would likely increase the tax dollars flowing from the immigrant community, and we would spend far less taxpayer money on immigration enforcement. Read More
Silicon Valley Leaders Fund Effort to Help DREAM Students
Although the DREAM Act remains stalled in Congress, students and youth activists across the U.S. continue to mobilize, march and fight for legislation that would provide a pathway to legal status for thousands of deserving undocumented students. But they aren’t the only ones fighting for a fair way forward for these students. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that a group of technology leaders from Silicon Valley are providing scholarships, career advice and legal assistance to undocumented students through a campaign called Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC). Backers of E4FC— and initiatives like it—include Jeff Hawkins of Palm Pilot; Andrew Grove, cofounder of Intel; and Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple’s Steve Jobs. Read More
Silicon Valley Leaders Fund Effort to Help DREAM Students
Although the DREAM Act remains stalled in Congress, students and youth activists across the U.S. continue to mobilize, march and fight for legislation that would provide a pathway to legal status for thousands of deserving undocumented students. But they aren’t the only ones fighting for a fair way forward for these students. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that a group of technology leaders from Silicon Valley are providing scholarships, career advice and legal assistance to undocumented students through a campaign called Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC). Backers of E4FC— and initiatives like it—include Jeff Hawkins of Palm Pilot; Andrew Grove, cofounder of Intel; and Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple’s Steve Jobs. Read More
USCIS Convenes Summit to Consider Streamlined Path for Immigrant Entrepreneurs
By KIRSTEN SCHLENGER, MANAGING PARTNER AT WEAVER SCHLENGER MAZEL LLP. The business community has long heralded the vital role immigrant-owned startups play in creating American jobs. This month, it seems like someone at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was listening. USCIS recently hosted its first in a series of summits dedicated to gathering expertise on how U.S. immigration law can enable foreign innovators to come to or remain in the U.S. lawfully while they start and grow businesses that benefit the U.S. economy. The informational summits, part of USCIS’s new Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) initiative, will result in the creation of a team of entrepreneurs and experts who are charged with designing and implementing USCIS policy that eases a path to the U.S. for talented immigrant entrepreneurs. Read More
Cato Institute Analyzes the Benefits of Immigration for the United States
The Winter 2012 issue of the Cato Journal is devoted to answering a single question: “Is Immigration Good for America?” In 13 articles, 16 scholars answer with a resounding “Yes!” The consensus is that immigrants provide a net benefit to the U.S. economy and to U.S. workers. There is also a consensus among the authors that the current immigration system, with its patchwork of arbitrary numerical caps, needlessly squanders the full economic potential of immigration. The authors call for a thorough revamping of the immigration system to make it more responsive to labor demand, to attract highly skilled professionals and entrepreneurs, and to offer a pathway to legal status for the unauthorized population. Read More
New Report Examines Dire Consequences of “Attrition through Enforcement” Immigration Strategy
Federal immigration enforcement resources have increased significantly in recent years, as have the number of deportations. Meanwhile, states have passed harsh immigration laws intended to crack down on unauthorized immigrants. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has announced that he supports a policy of “self-deportation.” What do these things have in common? The belief that making daily life miserable for undocumented immigrants will result in “self-deportation”—or “attrition through enforcement.” A new paper today out of the Immigration Policy Center connects the dots between the strategy of “attrition through deportation” and federal and state anti-immigrant proposals and explains how attrition through enforcement has gone from being a catchy phrase coined by immigration restrictionists to a frightening reality in many parts of the U.S. Read More
Alabama’s Extreme Immigration Law Could Cost State Billions, Report Finds
Implementing Alabama’s extreme immigration law (HB 56) would be incredibly expensive. That is the bottom line of a new report by University of Alabama economist Samuel Addy entitled A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the New Alabama Immigration Law. According to the report, the law could cost Alabama up to $11 billion in GDP and nearly $265 million in state income and sales tax. The loss includes 1) implementation, enforcement, and litigation expenditures; 2) increased costs and inconveniences for citizens and legal residents and businesses; 3) reduced economic development opportunities because it creates a poor business climate; and 4) the economic impact of reduced aggregate demand due to some unauthorized immigrants leaving and therefore not earning and spending income in the state. Read More
Following State of the Union, President Obama Needs to Follow Through on Immigration Reforms
The President’s State of the Union address this week re-iterated some of his key themes on immigration—support for comprehensive reform, dismay that DREAM Act students and foreign students educated in this country have no way to legalize their status, and a belief that he’s done enough to the secure the border. More importantly, he framed these themes in context to America’s economic recovery, innovation and growth. However, while any mention of immigration in the State of the Union is welcome, it’s what the President didn’t say that may have more of an impact on how his administration is remembered this year on immigration—and how his vision is measured by voters in the coming election. Read More
New Report Highlights Contributions of Immigrant Entrepreneurs to U.S. Economy
BY MARCIA HOHN, IMMIGRANT LEARNING CENTER At last night’s State of the Union Address, two immigrant entrepreneurs were among the President's guests—Japan-born Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita, founder, president and chief executive officer of Quality Electrodynamics (QED) in Cleveland, Ohio and Brazil-born Mike Krieger, co-founder of Instagram, a fast growing social mobile startup. Dr. Fijuita and Mike Krieger were rightfully recognized for their entrepreneurial drive and hard-earned success (both businesses are now worth millions of dollars), but they are just two examples of immigrants who came to this country and started businesses. There are many more unsung immigrant entrepreneurs whose U.S. businesses continue to create jobs for Americans and strengthen the U.S. economy. Read More
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