Thanks to Marilyn W.
By Tahmina Watson – Special to The Seattle Times
As a naturalized U.S. citizen and an immigration lawyer, I’m struck by the throughline of immigrant entrepreneurship throughout America’s history.
This Independence Day, I hope we take a moment to think about whether we as a country can become as innovative with our immigration laws as immigrants have been in developing our country’s status as a global leader in commerce and culture.
For years, I’ve pushed for a “startup visa” because our current immigration laws don’t address the needs of entrepreneurs and the global workers that startups need to stay competitive.
It wasn’t always this way. It’s only been since the latter half of the 19th century that our country has clamped down on immigration, despite history showing that economic prosperity and increased immigration go hand in hand.
For example, in the 1600s, British settler John Rolfe came to Virginia to develop the tobacco industry, which eventually became the economic juggernaut that fueled the colonies’ success.
Two hundred years later, German immigrant Levi Strauss developed the strong metal-riveted denim trousers that were needed by the miners who ventured out West to mine and pan for gold in California. In 2022, Levi’s generated almost $3 billion in revenue.
About 100 years after Levi patented his jeans, Sergey Brin, a Russian immigrant, co-founded Google, the revolutionary search engine. In 2022, Google generated more than $270 billion in revenue.
Twenty-five years after Google became a verb, the world kept functioning during a global pandemic thanks to Zoom, a video platform created by a Chinese immigrant, Eric Yuan. And the world opened up again, thanks in part to a vaccine developed at Moderna with the help of an immigrant co-founder, Noubar Afeyan.
And those are just the high-profile stories — not including the countless mom-and-pop store owners, restaurateurs, investors, inventors and startup founders who fuel our local economies and global industries.
Today’s America continues to build on past successes. And immigrants’ innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership are key factors in continuing our global influence. About 70% of graduate students in A.I. related fields are international students. And 43% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by an immigrant or the child of an immigrant — with a combined revenue of $6.1 trillion in 2018.
America is a land of immigrants who shaped its democracy, built its infrastructure and honed it, brick by brick and invention by invention, into the world’s greatest economy. Today, on Independence Day, we celebrate America and all that it is.
But what about America for all that it can be in the future?
Today companies are battling for the best talent.
In fact, there is a global shortage of talent. Other countries are making moves to jump ahead of us by adopting immigration laws to remain competitive. Canada recently announced open work permits to U.S. H-1B visa holders. Britain created the High Potential Visa to attract graduates from mostly U.S. schools. Australia, Germany and other countries are following suit.
Where does that leave the United States? With complex laws making it difficult for immigrants and employers alike, we are on a fast-track path to losing our competitive edge.
The challenges are unprecedented. In March, more than 780,000 H-1B applications were filed, for only 85,000 available visas, leaving smaller companies and startups losing out.
When businesses cannot fill positions and entrepreneurs cannot get their innovations off the ground, it is the American worker, consumer and economy that miss out.
The Biden administration has updated policies, but it is not enough. Immigration reform has never been more urgent.
In the absence of Congress taking action, I took my own. I wrote a book “The Startup Visa: U.S. Immigration Visa Guide for Startups and Founders” to help my clients and others navigate the increasingly complex laws that have been weighed down by political factors instead of directed by people’s needs. I also hope that policymakers and other economic development leaders will understand how our current immigration system is hurting the American entrepreneurial spirit to our collective detriment.
When I became a U.S. citizen in 2010, the song “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood was played during the oath ceremony. To this date, that song rings in my ear and especially on July Fourth. Being a citizen brings the responsibility to make your country better. I work hard on this issue because I see firsthand that immigrants do not take their love of America for granted — they get the job done to make it better for all.
Tahmina Watson is an immigration attorney and founder of Watson Immigration Law. A naturalized U.S. citizen born in London, U.K., she is the author of the book series “The Startup Visa” and host of the podcast The Startup Visa.