Opinion
Welcome to Immigrant, Inc.
23rd Jun 2022
In her May 2007 testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Patricia A. Buckley, a senior economic advisor to the US Department of Commerce, explained why any community should strive to attract high-skill immigrants:
‘An important segment of the foreign-born are not in the United States to find a job – they are here to create jobs. The high rates of entrepreneurship among the immigrant population contribute to the dynamics of the economy, fostering both investment and employment.’
Immigrants like Andy Grove and Sergey Brin are the well-known catalysts behind New Economy giants. Grove’s Intel employed about 90,000 people in 2009, while Brin’s Google employed about 20,000.
That’s fine, you may say, but what about the jobs of the future? Who will invent and commercialise clean technology so that companies can be launched and blue collar jobs will be created in manufacturing, building, and repairing, so that white collar jobs will spring up in accounting, law, and banking?
The same people who made Silicon Valley shine.
Raymond Spencer, an Australian-born entrepreneur, has a window on that future.
‘I have investments in maybe 10 start-ups, all of which fall within a broad umbrella of a “green” theme ... the vast majority are either led by immigrants or have key technical people who are immigrants.’
Immigrant, Inc. is a culture of entrepreneurship and self-reliance built around a set of simple, powerful concepts: relentless preparation, lifelong learning, constant vigilance and exploration of opportunity (no matter how remote). Immigrants endure the humiliations and frustrations of the immigration process and set about building a new future. They may be poor in dollars, but they are rich in audacity and dreams.
This is an edited excerpt from Immigrant, Inc. first published by Wiley.
The ALA would like to thank Richard T Herman for this contribution.
Richard T Herman is a renowned immigration lawyer. As a lawyer, activist, author and speaker, he has dedicated his life to advocating for immigrants and helping change the conversation on immigration. He is the founder of the Herman Legal Group, an immigration law firm founded in 1995 and recognized in U.S. News & World Report’s ‘Best Law Firms in America’. The firm serves clients in over 12 languages and represents diverse clientele from Fortune 500 companies to undocumented workers, from technology entrepreneurs to NFL teams.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).
CONTACT DETAILS
SEND ENQUIRY