Recently Stephen Fleming, a Georgia Tech vice president and executive director of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce forum about the problems with the interaction between immigration and innovation. I thought these remarks were extremely on point, and so today I simply want to refer you to this post.
I know very well that it would have been impossible for me to start a small company, let alone innovate outside that structure. I needed both Lucent Technologies and Xerox’s immigration staff and their resources. I needed them for the entire 8 years it took me to get from being a student visa holder to being a Permanent Resident. I needed them to cover the tens of thousands of dollars of costs associated with the process. I needed them to know that it affected my ability to travel for work purposes.
Thank you Lucent and Xerox.
