The recent passage of the bi-partisan “gang of eight’s” comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate Judiciary Committee has far reaching consequences for Latinos and employability. And, Immigrants know this. In recent demonstrations, Omar Casales, 26, an immigrant from Mexico who lives in Santa Ana, California carried a sign that said, “Immigrants Create Jobs and Businesses.” Politicians also know this. Former Mississippi governor, Haley Barbour said, “We certainly don’t have to change ideology. Here’s the point: We ought to be for good policy…. And good policy on immigration in the United States is, we are in a global battle for capital and labor, and we need to have what is good economic policy for America on immigration because we do need labor.”
America is founded upon a nation of immigrants. Contributions from generations of immigrants have helped build and fuel the economy and shaped it into the global leader that it is today. According to the White House Blog, immigrants have helped strengthen the U.S. economy in a multitude of ways. Immigrants start businesses. In fact, according to the Small Business Administration, immigrants are 30 percent more likely to start a business than non-immigrants. Comprehensive immigration reform creates new jobs – up to 900,000 new jobs from the increase in consumer spending according to the Center for American Progress. Immigrants develop cutting edge technologies and companies. Immigrants have started 25 percent of public U.S. companies that were backed by venture capital investors. Immigrants are our engineers, scientists and inventors. According to the Census Bureau, despite making up only 16 percent of the resident population holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, immigrants represent 33 percent of engineers, 27 percent of mathematicians, statisticians, and computer scientist, and 24 percent of physical scientists. Additionally, according to the Partnership for a New American Economy, in 2011, foreign-born inventors were credited with contributing to more than 75 percent of patents issued to the top 10 patent-producing universities.
Comprehensive immigration reform has a direct and positive impact on the country’s bottom line. As the legislation moves through the process of congressional approval, it’s important to reflect on the idea that America would not be the successful country that it is today without the significant contributions of generations of immigrants.
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments
