As we wait to see how Congress will deal with the possible end of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and restrictions on immigration become more stringent than they’ve ever been, we are beginning to wonder how different our country’s future may be.
The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) – a non-partisan, non-profit focused on policy research – published a brief last year showing us why current policies on immigration are bad business for America.
We’ll try not to get too bogged down with statistics, but there are a few that we think are important to grasp. Immigrants have spearheaded more than 50% of our biggest startup companies, creating approximately 760 jobs per company. That statistic throws the ‘immigrants are taking our jobs’ rhetoric on its head.
The collective value of those 44 companies equals about half the stock markets of Russia or Mexico. This isn’t a drill – America’s bones are made of immigrants.
Today’s newest immigration policies – as mandated by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Attorney General Jeff Sessions – would have meant that many of our best innovators (think SpaceX, Amazon, Google) probably wouldn’t have been able to immigrate to America. It’s not only those with the highest pedigrees who bring money and economic growth.
It’s more often those who think outside of the box, who don’t have more than a bachelor’s degree (if that), who are willing to go beyond borders, that turn out to be the most innovative and helpful citizens.
Losing that talent is one of many reasons why we keep chanting, “Migration is beautiful.”
