Stories
Immigrants Vital to Help Tech Startups Become Multibillion Dollar Companies Here in the U.S.
From the moment he was offered a job at a tech startup in San Mateo, Calif. in 2013, Brazilian-born software engineer Rocir Santiago, worried that U.S. immigration policy would create unnecessary obstacles for his family and career. “The visa process is complex and uncertain. It discourages people from moving to… Read More
International Students Top One Million, Contributing $32.8 Billion to U.S. Economy
For the first time, the number of international students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities exceeded one million, making up over 5 percent of the 20 million students pursuing higher education in the United States during the 2015-2016 academic year. These 1,043,839 international students represent a 7.1-percent increase from the… Read More
This Venerated Engineer Says Embracing Skilled Immigrants Will Make America Great
Ram Bhatia was living in Montreal when a U.S. headhunter called him, saying, “We can’t find anyone in the United States.” The headhunter had spent a year looking for an engineer who could help a Wisconsin firm develop linear electrical motors. Bhatia, who is originally from India, had done graduate… Read More
College Dean Worries that Not Enough U.S. Students Pursuing STEM
As a child, Manoj Babu used to say he lived in two different worlds. There was America, where he attended school and had friends in Southeast Texas. And there was India, the culture that saturated life behind the doors of his house. His mother, a nurse, had come… Read More
Without Immigration Reform, This Dean Worries Manufacturers Won’t have the Technical Workers they Need
As Indian immigrants growing up in East Texas, Manoj Babu and his sister were encouraged to pursue careers in science and math. Forget sports or music. They attended STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) competitions. In fact, Babu jokes that he may have actually disappointed his father by becoming… Read More
CEO of Indianapolis Power and Light Believes Immigrants Power State Economy
After graduating from university in Puerto Rico, Rafael Sanchez and his wife sold their belongings and moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to study law – only to realize that Fort Wayne didn’t have a law school. “When you’re young and stupid, your only due diligence is, ‘Where do we know… Read More
CEO Barry Zhang Says High Tech Manufacturing Companies Depend on Machine Operators from Abroad
Barry Zhang already had two degrees when he came to the United States from China to study at Princeton University. There he earned a PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering. His wife’s U.S. employer sponsored her for a green card, and Zhang gained residency as her dependent around the time… Read More
Robotics Expert Is Recruited to the U.S., but Visa Prohibits His Wife From Working
Despite being on track to become a judge in her native England, attorney Michelle Garrod decided to forego her own professional advancement to support her husband, Michael, when he was recruited to be the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for BlackDog Robotics, a division of the American company NPC… Read More
Educator Says that Without Immigration Reform Kentucky Schools Can’t Produce Enough Technical Workers
Dr. Ty Handy has been an educator for more than 16 years, during which time he’s worked with many immigrants and international students. As current president of Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, located in Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District, he oversees an annual operating budget of almost $50 million. Read More
Head of University of Louisiana Computer Science Department: ‘Our Strength is in Our Diversity’
Magdy Bayoumi, director of the Center for Advanced Computer Studies and head of the Computer Science department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt—but he always knew he’d to move to America one day. “Since I was in high school, my plan was… Read More
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