Texas, District 21
Backward Immigration Policies Force America To “Compete With Our Own University Graduates,” Says CEO
Ramiro Cavazos is a seventh-generation Texan, born to a family that originally moved to America from Spain in the late 1600s and settled in the Rio Grande Valley as ranchers and farmers. Cavezos takes great pride in his family’s heritage and their many contributions to Texas. But as the CEO… Read More
Immigrants Are to Thank for San Antonio’s Dynamic Business Growth Says Chamber of Commerce Chair
“I’m one of three doctors in my family,” says Dr. Esteban Lopez. “Well, we like to joke that we have two real doctors and then a dentist.” The internist and pediatrician comes from a family of six children, all of whom have at least an undergraduate education. It’s a fact… Read More
Declaration from Phillip Smith
Each and every applicant that I met with or represented during an official proceeding with an Immigration Judge or asylum officer had a child or children with them at the time, often in their laps. Many of the children were sick, and the mothers were often required to recount gruesome… Read More
Letter Requesting Modifications to USCIS DACA FAQ (submitted June 3, 2013)
The American Immigration Council along with American Immigration Lawyers Association, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, National Council of La Raza, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and United We Dream, submitted proposals to USCIS seeking certain modifications to the DACA Frequently Asked Questions page. Read More
This Venezuelan-Born Chemical Engineer Explains Why Immigration Reform Could Help Cure Cancer
There’s one central reason that Agustin Lopez Marquez, a chemical engineer, was able to pioneer what Scientific American has called a “world changing” idea: The United States let him in. “In Venezuela, chemical engineers are often constrained to the energy industry,” he says. “It was only when I… Read More
Tanzanian-Born Entrepreneur: Immigrants Aren’t Just “Giving Back to the Country, We Are Very Much a Part of the Country”
Abbas Bandali and his younger brother lived nearly parallel lives: They were both born and raised in Tanzania and attended school in England. But afterwards, Bandali’s younger brother returned to Tanzania, and Bandali ventured into an unknown future in America. “I can very easily compare and contrast my life and… Read More
Immigration System “Has Not Kept Up with the Times” Says Successful Korean-Born Lawyer
“Immigrants—the risk takers and the entrepreneurs—built this country and made America great,” says Sung Je Lee. “But today’s immigration system doesn’t acknowledge that history at all, and the United States loses job creators every year.” Lee, who is originally from South Korea but grew up in Indonesia, first came to… Read More
America’s Aging Crisis Will Only Grow Worse With Declining Immigration
As a recent story in The Economist notes, the conventional wisdom has long been that “because Americans have so many babies and welcome so many immigrants, they had more room to deal with the coming burden of pensions and health care for the elderly.” But that is no longer the case. The story goes on to point out that “the savage recession of 2007-09 and its aftermath…have weakened those demographic advantages. America’s fertility rate has been falling since 2007, as has net immigration.” In other words, there are going to be fewer working-age, tax-paying adults to support the rapidly growing number of elderly Americans. Read More
Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Creating Jobs and Strengthening the Economy
There is widespread agreement across a number of key economic planning groups that immigrant entrepreneurs create jobs and strengthen the economy. Yet, the U.S. immigration system often forces out immigrant entrepreneurs, driving them to other countries that are competing for international talent. Although many people recognize the giants of immigrant entrepreneurship, such as Sergey Brin of Google and Pierre Omidyar of eBay, thousands of other science and technology businesses are quietly making a difference by creating almost half a million jobs for Americans and generating revenue of more than $50 billion. The depth and breadth of immigrant entrepreneurs extend across the spectrum of enterprises, including neighborhood, growth, and transnational businesses. Expansion of employment-based visas would allow companies’ access to high-potential foreign individuals who are graduates of U.S. universities. Businesses, cities, and states across the country should support changes in visa policy and work to develop partnerships with immigrant entrepreneurs to create jobs and strengthen the economy. The report features profiles of immigrant entrepreneurs and shines a light on some of the difficulties they face. Current immigration laws make it difficult for many immigrant entrepreneurs to contribute to the nation’s growth. The report contains administrative and legislative proposals that taken together could create an atmosphere that fosters growth. Read More
Keeping Migrants Here: Recent Research Shows Unintended Consequences of U.S. Border Enforcement
The Department of Homeland Security released a report this week showing that apprehensions of undocumented immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border are at their lowest level since 1973, leaving many observers contemplating the factors responsible for this decline. Is it the recession-plagued U.S. economy or beefed-up enforcement efforts? New data from a research team led by Wayne Cornelius, Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California, San Diego, sheds light on the decline in apprehensions and reveals the surprising, unintended consequences of border enforcement. Read More
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