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Welcome to America
The best thing about America, politicians say, is freedom. But freedom, when exercised by people who do not appreciate its positive value, is not always a good thing, especially for immigrants.
About 10 years ago, immigrants saw two billboard signs indicating how Americans exercised their freedom of expression from both sides. In the nation's most ethnically diverse county, one of the signs boldly claimed that America rejects the presence of immigrants.
The huge sign in Sunnyside, a Queens neighborhood in New York, proclaimed: “Over 80 percent of Americans support very little or no new immigration. Is anyone listening to us?” It had Greek, Korean and Hindi translations. The sign was just a block from the No. 7 train that is known for carrying immigrants to work in Manhattan.
Surely, the billboard conveyed a confusing signal. Without knowing how much Americans value and respect freedom, an immigrant may feel unwelcome in the country that prides itself as the champion of the downtrodden from other parts of the globe.
In reality, and in simple terms, it works this way: Americans may not necessarily agree with what you say, but they would defend your right to say it.
America is a nation of immigrants. Nine out of ten Americans are descendants of immigrants. But while statistics are difficult to deny, the sad truth is that many Americans still refuse to trace their roots.
To survive and successfully blend in this society, a new immigrant should overcome the obstacles — from culture shock to cultural bias — by himself or by herself. Perhaps this is because immigrants are not united.
We aim to change this situation. It's time to unite immigrants under one voice. This Web site aims to take the stance of the other billboard also in Sunnyside, New York, a few blocks away from the other anti-immigrant sign. It shows the other side of freedom and tells immigrants: “Sunnyside welcomes you.”
Well, welcome to America.
Uncle Sam should accept all the brainy immigrants
By Mortimer B. Zuckerman
America more than lives up to the inscription on the Statue of Liberty.
It opens its doors to the huddled masses yearning to breathe free — too wide and indiscriminately for the country, some would say. Many more millions have been admitted than anyone envisaged since immigration policy was changed in the 1960s, giving preference to Third World immigrants over immigrants from Europe.
While we can argue about the number of immigrants and their countries of origin, there should be little doubt that America benefits from the skilled people who come here. Brainpower drives our economy more than ever.
As analyst P. K. Agarwal has noted: The 18th-century economy grew along trail ways and waterways; the 19th-century along railroads, the 20th-century along the highways and airways; but the 21st-century economy will grow around communications networks. We need the strongest telecommunications infrastructure in the world, and the best software.
Foreigners have played and will play an important role in this high-tech world. They make up half of our Ph.D.s in computer science and one quarter of the National Academy of Sciences. Restricting the admission of these gifted immigrants is against our own interest.
There are more than enough high-tech jobs to go around — some 346,000 positions are open today, according to the Information Technology Association of America. There will be an additional 1.3 million such jobs to fill during the next decade — enough for foreign-born as well as American-born talent.
The high-tech sector is the engine of our growth and important for everyone's prosperity. It is the main reason for the 1.7 percent unemployment rate for college-educated workers, a rate that might not have enough educated people to design, manufacture, and build high-tech goods.
The reality is that U.S. firms want to recruit talented foreign workers to come here — not to export these high-paying jobs. That importation of workers allows U.S. firms to concentrate their knowledge teams in one place.
But if they have to put up “No foreigners need apply” signs, they may have to move operations overseas, spurring more innovation and job-creation abroad.
Adding skilled workers to our high-tech world not only maintain our leadership but also benefits other American workers. There may, of course, be some incidental displacement in which an immigrant gets a job instead of a native-born American. But the overall shortage means that an opportunity will open elsewhere for the temporarily displaced.
Every foreign engineer and scientist who contributes to product development in the United States has a multiplier effect by creating more jobs locally to manufacture the high-tech gear, sell it, ship it, and market it. And remember this: Many of the H-1B visa workers are among the 41,000 foreign graduate students enrolled in U.S. universities in science and engineering.
Highly skilled workers are not part of the problem. They are part of the solution. How about a second inscription on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your brainy, yearning to be rich.”
READ MORE OPINION AND EDITORIALS:
- » New immigration law alienates America from asylum seekers By Sigourney Weaver
- » It's time to repeal unfair, unjust immigration laws By Max J. Castro
- » America should not turn its back on the foreign-born By Margaret Stock, former immigration lawyer
- » Hispanic immigrants expand political clout By August Gribbin
- » Just the facts on immigration, please By Editorial Staff
- » In Limbo: Policy puts American Dream on hold for thousands of immigrants By Judy Benjamn
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