Why do we need to think differently?

If we’re serious about jump starting our economy, then we need to reboot the conventional economic thinking coming from Washington. From 1995-2005, over 25% of technology companies founded in the US had a key immigrant founder. In 2005 alone, those companies generated $52B in sales and employed nearly half a million people, mostly Americans. The immigrants that comprise 12% of our population earn a staggering 47% of the nation’s science and technology PhDs and pioneer new innovations by filing for 24% of US patents. From Google to Ebay, immigration has been good for New York City, good for America, and is critical to our future economic prosperity.

How can we enact innovative reforms to boost American entrepreneurship?

However, for years, Washington policy has shown immigrant entrepreneurs the door instead of providing them the resources to start the next Google here in the US. In fact, right now over 50% of immigrants returning to India or China hold advanced degrees. Our current work-visa system is outdated, counter-productive and sorely in need of reform. By enacting smart reform, we will both protect existing American jobs while also encouraging immigrant entrepreneurship that will create more domestic jobs. Today’s H1-B (for immigrant workers) and EB-5 work visas (for immigrant investors) for immigrants are too limited in scope and too narrowly defined. I propose eliminating the cap on H-1B visas and doubling the cap on EB-5 visas to 20,000 per year. In addition, I will fight for the immediate passage of the “Start-up visa” program which keeps immigrant entrepreneurs, who commit to hire American workers and generate domestic sales, right here in the United States.