Being a foreigner is a strange and beautiful thing. In my 25 years of life I have been a foreigner in 3 different countries. Italy and France had amazing health care systems, but the US has been by far the most welcoming. This is of course subjective, but I think that its beauty lies on its diversity. Almost everybody here came from somewhere else. There are strong communities of Indians, Bengalis, Italians, Latin Americans, and more; all of them adapting to this country, reinventing their cultures and simultaneously making the US what it is.
But there is a trick to all of this. For those of us who fall in love with this country, the path to citizenship is uphill. While I was lucky enough to get permission to work here after I graduated from college, many friends (architects, product designers and future doctors) tried and couldn’t. In my case, I got the typical H-1B visa that allows me to work for 3 years with the possibility of being renewed one time for other 3 years. After those 6 years my employer could choose to apply for residency in my name, but not only would that mean that I would be attached to a single employer for 6+ years (loosing control of my professional decisions and maybe giving up my dream career path), but also that if it doesn’t happen -and after spending +10 years in the US- I would have to leave. There is a great and sad article written by William Han titled “I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American. I’ve failed“. It broke my heart the first time I read it, because it is true. Being a young person, it doesn’t matter how much you commit to this country or how many years of your life you spend here, the path is long and feels like a risky bet. Some believe that the fastest path to citizenship for people like us is to get married (and ironically, this is true), but “once again there is the humiliating feeling that our life is not our own: the government may now effectively dictate when we get married”. For people like William Han and I, that is not an option.
Us international students and legal immigrants might not vote in this country, but we have to push for comprehensive legal immigration by advocating for our interests and explaining to our American friends how their immigration system actually works and also the benefits of improving it. “No,” I’ve found myself saying to many American friends, “I can’t just go to the immigration office and apply for citizenship.”
As the presidential race continues, we have to educate ourselves and others as much as possible. This is why I decided to interview the presidential candidate Martin O’Malley last week and ask him what he thought about diversity and a comprehensive immigration reform.
Martin O’Malley might not the most popular candidate in the democratic race for the White House, but in a presidential race where eyes have been laid -for better and worse- on diversity and immigration, O’Malley seems to make a lot of sense. In this video, the former Governor of Maryland talks about the important role that inclusion and diversity play on the “secret sauce” that makes the United States of America a nation for entrepreneurship and innovation.
INTERVIEW HERE:
Do you think that immigration is a key contributor to innovation in the United States? Why?
“One of the great economic strengths of our nation is our diversity. We have people from many different cultures and nations that have come together here to solve problems and to take entrepreneurial risks. Not foolish risks, but risks based on the notion that an investment here today can get them a bigger return tomorrow. So, I believe that immigration on every generation plays a very vital and important role on filling our economy with talented people, people that believe in the American Dream. I think the facts show that. My argument for comprehensive immigration reform is based on the truth that it would be good for our economy, partly by getting people out of the shadow economy, getting them all on the books and allowing people to create businesses. All of that will be good for our economy, for reducing our deficit and also for creating jobs. That’s why we need to do this as a nation as we have done every other generation.”
We have been talking a lot during this presidential race about legal paths to citizenship for illegal immigrants; but how about young legal immigrants like myself who studied in this country and struggling to stay here legally?
“As the title would imply, we need comprehensive immigration reform. We have created a whole group of people that are living on a shadow economy, and that also creates a situation where the so-called line to legal immigration is so crowded and packed and there is no relationship to the economic needs of our country right now. The quota system that we have been operating on since the sixties just doesn’t bear a relationship to the modern supply and demand for skills or for people. If you think a growing population is a big challenge, try a shrinking one. Talk to Japan and some other nations. I think that we need an office -independent from congress- to actually sets the goals and to make sure that is responsive to market demands and what the modern economy requires. It’s a huge waste for us to educate so many kids, especially high demand skills like engineering, science or math, and then to force them out of our country when they could be added to our economy and our success.”
Click here if you would like to know more about O’Malleys Imigration Reform proposals.