Image via WikipediaI am a living martyr to the cause. The immigration laws in this country are so fucked up, it's not even funny. We might as well bring back Jim Crow to take race relations to new Tea Party heights. Ugh, Immigration (4)
I understand racism. I understand the need to keep people away from your dinner table. But that is not what is going on. The current immigration laws in this country are designed to keep food away from the American tables.
Paul Graham, Brad Feld, Me, BBC
For the past few years I have been flapping my wings on the beach like one of those birds that became victims to some oil spill while lesser tech entrepreneurs have swam into the ocean depths, flown into the sky. How much window shopping can you do? I wear the glorious title of tech consultant.
Independent For Bloomberg
The immigration bureaucracy in this country moves at Third World speeds. They had me disappear the precise day the national primary ended in 2008. They feared I might miss the message. Fuck the machine. We are the machine now. My guy is in the White House. When they released me six months later, they gave me a court date in Chicago. They still feared I might miss the message. A change of venue for something like that is automatic, but they would not grant me that. In June 2009 they gave me a court date for June 2011. That too has been postponed. If they give me a new court date for 2013, I am going to think there is a Tea Party conspiracy going on.
Robin Hood: My German Nickname
If I have enemies in this town who think Barack Obama is going to be a one term president, they don't know me, and they don't know Barack Obama, and they are not going to be able to stay faceless forever. You never knew machine politics until I showed up in town.
The Bush Tax Cuts: Why There Are No Jobs In America
Fred Wilson: The Chorus For Immigration Reform Grows Louder: I'm encouraged and excited that the chorus for intelligent immigration reform has gotten louderMayor Bloomberg Calls for Immediate Immigration Reform Bloomberg today highlighted the essential role of immigrants in America’s economic growth and addressed the urgent need for Washington to put aside partisan politics and immediately pass immigration reforms needed to create jobs and fuel economic growth ...... green cards for graduates with advanced degrees in essential fields; a new visa for entrepreneurs with investors ready to invest capital in their job-creating idea; more temporary and permanent visas for highly skilled workers; guest-worker programs to ensure agriculture and other key sectors can thrive; and a revaluation of visa priorities that places a focus on the nation’s economic needs. ....... the results of a study conducted by the Partnership for a New American Economy – a bipartisan group of business leaders and mayors from across the country – that found more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants and those companies employ more than 10 million people worldwide and have combined revenues of $4.2 trillion. ...... It’s always nice to come to a city with a baseball team that is below the Mets in the standings. ...... ironic that immigration divides this city, because so much of Washington was built by immigrants: The street design was drawn up by Pierre Charles L’Enfant, a French immigrant; the White House was designed by James Hoban, an Irish immigrant; the U.S. Capitol was designed by William Thornton, a British immigrant. ........ We would not have become a global superpower without the contributions of immigrants who built the railroads and canals that opened up the west, who invented ground-breaking products that revolutionized global commerce, and who pioneered scientific, engineering, and medical advances that made America the most innovative country in the world. ...... we will not remain a global superpower if we continue to close our doors to people who want to come here to work hard, start businesses, and pursue the American dream. The American dream cannot survive if we keep telling the dreamers to go elsewhere. ....... national suicide ...... Today, we may have turned away the next Albert Einstein or Sergey Brin. Tomorrow, we may turn away the next Levi Strauss or Jerry Yang. ...... These immigrant-rooted companies employ more than 10 million people worldwide, which is a population larger than 43 states have. ....... American companies founded by immigrants or their children have revenues that are greater than the Gross National Product of every country in the world outside the United States, except two: China and Japan. ....... immigrants are dreamers and risk-takers who are driven to succeed ...... No city has seen the economic power of immigration more clearly than New York ........ Neighborhoods that, 25 years ago were abandoned, are now thriving, thanks largely to immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, China, Russia, Ghana, Korea, India, Pakistan, Poland, Egypt and every other country on the face of the earth. ...... There is no greater force for economic revitalization of depressed neighborhoods than an influx of immigrants. And that’s not just true in New York; immigrants have been critical to economic rebounds in small towns and big cities across America. ......... Across the country, cities with the largest increase in immigrant workers have experienced the fastest economic growth. And in New York, immigrants are a big reason why we weathered the national recession better than the country as a whole. ........ today, more than three years after our country entered its deepest recession in decades, the single most powerful step that the federal government could take to spur job growth – reforming our broken immigration system – is a casualty of partisan gridlock. ........ 13.9 million Americans who are unemployed and looking for work. ...... two-thirds of Americans – and three-quarters of business leaders– recognize that immigrants play an important role in our economy ....... more than 40 percent of our engineering graduate students are foreign-born. ....... America is the best place in the world to start a business. ..... “Immigrants helped found Google, Yahoo, eBay, Intel ....... immigrants helped found one-quarter of all high-tech companies over a 10-year period. And across all industries, they are twice as likely as native-born Americans to start companies ....... in the 21st century, the global economy will revolve more than ever around entrepreneurs. ....... if companies cannot hire the workers they need here, they will move operations out of the country. Just look at Microsoft’s decision to open a research park in Vancouver. Many high-tech companies are also opening offices there – for one reason: they can’t get the high-skilled workers they need into the United States. We not only lose those jobs – we lose their spending and taxes. ....... Iceland gets the same number of visas as India ...... leaving crops un-harvested ....... more green cards for university graduates; more visas for entrepreneurs; more visas for high-skilled workers; more visas for agricultural and other seasonal laborers; and more visas that are distributed based on our economic needs. ...... fences and fingerprints ...... the biggest threat to our future lies in denying our past.
Mike Arrington: Hell Yes, Mayor Bloomberg. I’m With You.: In the last presidential election I interviewed most of the candidates on a variety of tech issues, including immigration. Most of the candidates punted because the issue is so politically charged. Everyone knows immigrants fuel Silicon Valley, but most politicians won’t fight for it...... The issue of illegal immigration over our Southern border must be separated from the issue of immigration of people who want to come here to build companies. I am so happy to see a politician take this stand.
