Immigration policy is always a hot button topic, and never more so than in election year. However, an important aspect of the current policy that is not getting a lot of political attention from either side is the reality that the policy as it stands is driving away immigrant entrepreneurs.
It has long been a recognized reality that one of the biggest sources of job creation are new businesses, but over the course of the last decade the nature of those businesses has changed, with the amount of new businesses opening having fallen to just 500,000 two years ago in 2010 as a result of the recession, and with only a slight recovery since.
The changing environment brought about by the advent of modern technology and by the fiscal crisis has made it difficult enough to create new jobs, but an immigration and naturalization process that only makes it more and more difficult for successful immigrant entrepreneurs to stay in the United States is only making the situation worse than ever and evidence is mounting that a change in policy is necessary.
A new study from the Kauffman Foundation says that the amount of high tech startups that are founded by immigrants has stalled, with a report showing that immigrant-founded companies has fallen since 2005, an unprecedented loss of entrepreneurs for the United States caused by immigration policies that are forcing potential employers to go back home or seek opportunities in countries that have less onerous immigration standards.