I just visited eBay with a group of students and it struck me that this "great American success story" was founded by a guy who was born in France and has Iranian parents. This guy, Pierre Omidyar, moved to the US at the age of six and grew up in the Washington D.C. area. In addition to founding one of the biggest and most consistently successful companies of our time, he is a well-known philanthropist. Finally, Pierre had the good sense to hire Meg Whitman as eBay's President and CEO. Meg is an outstanding leader and, as you may know, is one of Mitt Romney's National Finance Co-Chairs. Meg even flew out to Boston on Monday to be a part of Mitt's historic $7 Million telethon.
So what does all this have to do with Mitt Romney as our next president? Well, Mitt understands the immigration issue much better that his myopic partisan opponents. Mitt has worked in the private sector, he has invested in hundreds of businesses, and he comprehends the nuances of both sides of the immigration issue.
It is extremely important that we make sure the United States remains the preferred destination for entrepreneurs, scientists, academics, artists, etc. These are the people that will build the next eBays and the next Googles--bringing thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the US economy. I am so glad that Pierre's parents came to the states with their 6-year-old son. We need to revise our policies to enable and encourage such immigration through the proper channels. On the other hand, we need to have have the safety provided by some kind of fence, wall, or, preferably, security zone, so that all people from all parts of the world are forced to go through the proper procedures for entry into the US.
From Mittromney.com:
Getting Immigration Right: Immigration has been an important part of our nation's success. The current system, however, puts up a concrete wall to the best and brightest, yet those without skill or education are able to walk across the border. We must reform the current immigration laws so we can secure our borders, implement a mandatory biometrically enabled, tamper proof documentation and employment verification system, and increase legal immigration into America.
Governor Romney: "We need to make America more attractive for legal immigrants -- for citizens -- and less attractive for illegal immigrants. I want to see more immigration in our country, but more legal immigration and less illegal immigration." (AP, June 23, 2006)
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2 comments:
Mitt understands that a large number of technology jobs that pay well are going to immigrants because we lack a sufficient number of people with those job skills. We need to do more to develop our workforce. I haven't thought too much about how to accomplish this, but it seems to me that coordinating federal loans and scholarships in some way to particular professions and skills as determined by the Department of Education would be a possibility.
He also seems to understand that it makes little sense to allow very talented people to come here on an F-1 and then make them leave after obtaining a great education. Obviously, it is great if they return to their own countries and hopefully share some positive things about America, but many of them could very appropriately be employed here and should be able to get citizenship.
Hear hear, finally an immigration policy that makes sense for the U.S. Hope we live to see it implemented.
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