Wired Magazine Points Out that Immigrants Across the Spectrum Fuel Innovation

Silicon Valley and the tech media have widely discussed the immense contributions highly-skilled immigrants make in the tech world, and consistently advocate for fixing the many problems in our employment immigration system. This focus on highly skilled immigrants sometimes is juxtaposed with lower-skilled immigrants, who often do not have immigration status. This dichotomy can result in undervaluing the immense contributions of all immigrants across the spectrum. Consequently, it was particularly refreshing to see Wired Magazine (arguably the leading technology Magazine in the country) acknowledge the immense value and contributions of all immigrants, not just the highly skilled that work in the tech sector. The article, “Immigrants Fuel Innovation. Let’s Not Waste Their Potential”, points out how intrinsic all immigrants have been to the success of this country and the many characteristics they share in common that produce this success. The article makes a number of great points, a few of which are below: 

• “First-generation immigrants are significantly more likely than the general population to become entrepreneurs, according to data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.”
• “The immigrant, the outsider, the newcomer: They see things we do not. And they act on what they see. The American melting pot, with its new eyes and new imagi­nations, is an incubator for innovation.”
• Referring to the failure to grant status to many undocumented immigrants: “What is most maddening about this situation is also what is most hopeful: Granting legal status to undocumented immigrants would unleash massive potential, add an estimated 150,000 new jobs annually, and add $1 trillion to America’s GDP.”
• “A super­majority of Americans actually supports a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants like Noe, Darwin, and Mayra. According to a recent Gallup poll, 84 percent of all adults take this view, including 76 percent of Republicans.”
• “The trouble is that exclusionary and even xenophobic views are overrepresented right now in our political discourse. And we cannot allow the views of that minority to drive policy.”