For a long time, Detroit was a symbol of the US successful car industry and great manufacturing companies settled in this city. Years later, many factors hit the American car industry and Detroit became just a shadow of its glorious past. There were foreign factors but also local mistakes that ruined the economy of this city. Could the same happen to Silicon Valley in California, which is a mecca of technology that attracts investments and skilled workers from different countries? Is the new immigration policy ideal for the development of Silicon Valley or will it destroy its prosperity?
Let's review some facts.
A great place
Silicon Valley is a place that attracts the best tech workers from India, Russia, and other nations. It is also a place where a lot of financial firms invest huge amounts of money. No surprise that great companies like Google, Tesla, Facebook, and others are based here. Silicon Valley opened its doors to Stepan Pachikov, a Soviet citizen who founded the company Paragraph in his collapsing country. He left the USSR and moved to Silicon Valley. A few years later he sold Paragraph for $50 million according to a report by Newsweek. This is an example of the type of thriving people who settle in the area.
Immigration policies can be lethal
The corporate giants employ 1.5 million people according to a report by Newsweek.
Imagine what would have happened if the founders of these tech giants had never come to America. The immigration policy must accept competitive workers that create wealth. The US will lose leadership if they exclude talented people in the era of the knowledge-based economy.
H-1B visas
Skilled foreign workers need H-1B visas to come to the United States but the Trump administration decided to review this.
It's also dealing negatively with the International Entrepreneur Rule, which lets foreign investors bring their startups to America. Microsoft President Brad Smith dislikes Trump’s immigration policy.
America must lead
This is a time of great challenges as the US is competing with China, India, and other countries, so, the right immigration policy needs to attract the right people.
Those who break the law and cannot comply with immigration formalities must be excluded, but the doors must be open for the Pachikovs that create wealth. It is imperative that Silicon Valley does not commit industrial suicide and become a New Detroit.
