New York, District 10
Alaskan Leads Effort to Get Military the Skills it Needs: Immigrants
Immigrants who enlist in the military have high retention rates and bring language and medical skills considered vital to the nation’s success. So why do they make up less than 5 percent of the U.S. Armed Forces when they account… Read More
Politics Professor: U.S. Universities — and Their Towns — Need Foreign Students
As a child, Leslie Caughell watched her father, who was born in Canada, navigate the “anxiety-inducing” U.S. immigration system. It’s something the family can laugh about now. But far more anxiety inducing today, says Caughell, a political science professor at Virginia Wesleyan University, is the prospect of U.S. universities losing… Read More
No Field Workers Means No Food — and No Food Security, Says Agriculture Exec
In 45 years in the agriculture business, Frank Gasperini, former CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE), has seen the phenomenon time and again: U.S. farms scrapping crops because they don’t have enough workers for harvest. “When farmers realize their labor is going to be really late, they’ll… Read More
Statement on the H-2B Visa Program
Following the May 4th passage of the federal spending bill which allows the Department of Homeland Security to increase the number of H-2B visas available for fiscal year (FY) 2017, New American Economy President John Feinblatt issued the following statement: “The seafood industry is one… Read More
Louisianan Says it’s the Strangers Who Make His Town Home
Chris Wade cares about the people of Monroe, Louisiana. He was born there, raised there, and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology there, from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. He’s also spent a significant portion of his adult life volunteering in and around the city: driving a truck for… Read More
Even Facing Immigration Hurdles, This Singapore Native Started a $40 Million Business
“I would have started my business much earlier if not for the limitations posed by U.S. immigration laws,” says Shan-Lyn Ma, the co-founder and CEO of Zola – a $40 million modern wedding registry business. Ma, who was born in Singapore but grew up in Australia, moved to… Read More
When the Local Steel Mill Closed, This Mexican Immigrant Started a Business and Hired Americans
When Racine Steel Castings laid off its workers in the 1990s, welder Lauro Davalos found himself better prepared than many. Long determined to give his children something he’d never had — a good education — Davalos had already started a business in downtown Racine, the Southeast Wisconsin town… Read More
Tech Startup Can’t Find U.S. Engineers, Can’t Afford to Sponsor Immigrant Workers
Immigration status was never something Sandeep Ayyappan thought about. As a young Indian immigrant living in Omaha, Nebraska, his parents created a comfortable, stable home and made sure their son received a good education. “I wasn’t a part of my parents’ reality,” says Ayyappan. “My parents always reminded me… Read More
After Witnessing an ICE Raid, Restaurant Consultant Considers the Value — and Virtue — of Immigration Reform
Derrick De Lise’s job as a restaurant and hotel consultant is relatively drama-free — except for that one time Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) showed up. De Lise, a Culinary Institute of America graduate in Poughkeepsie, New York, typically spends six to eight weeks at a client’s business, helping to… Read More
Child of Mexican Restaurant Owners Helps Build Houston’s Next Generation of Business Leaders
In 2007, when Laura Murillo became president and CEO of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the organization had just two employees and was in financial peril, about to lose its lease. Under her guidance, it is now the largest Hispanic chamber of commerce in the country, with 4,200 members,… Read More
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