StartUp Act Would Increase Visas to Foreign Students, Entrepreneurs
By Alan Markow | 05/31/2012 | Immigration, Issues, Legislation, Legislators | 6 Comments
Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Mark Warner, Sen. Steve Case, Sen. Chris Coons and Sen. Jerry Moran at Tuesday's press conference for their bipartisan StartUp Act bill. Credit: siliconprairienews.com
If the United States ends up offering an “entrepreneur’s visa” for promising graduate students and new business developers, it will be following a trail blazed in other parts of the world. The United Kingdom and Canada already offer such incentives in recognition of the value that budding business thinkers bring to their economies and their societies as well.
The shame of it is that the U.S. program, proposed by bipartisan coalition of four relatively recent arrivals to the Senate – Democrats Sen. Mark Warner (VA) and Sen. Chris Coons (DE), and Republicans Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) and Sen. Jerry Moran (KS) – is unlikely to get past a House of Representatives bound up in anti-immigrant rhetoric and attitudes, and may not even be introduced in the Senate.
The StartUp Visa Act would permit foreign students completing advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics to remain in the U.S. for an extended period of time to work in their fields of expertise. Up to 50,000 such visas could be issued under the provisions of the act. The Act would also allow for up to 75,000 visas for immigrants who have recently started new businesses in the science and technology fields.
Visa recipients would have to show that they had stayed in their fields for at least five years before being offered permanent resident status.
The bill also provides financial incentives to start-ups, according to the Wall Street Journal:
“The bill would also create a targeted tax credit to encourage start up firms to invest in research and development. It would allow investors who cash in investments made in start up businesses to avoid capital gains tax as long as they had held the investment for at least five years.”
The bipartisan group of Senators told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday that the current economy needs the boost their act could bring. But they know there’s a tough road ahead to pass the legislation. On the whole, Republicans are opposed to any expansion of immigration; and Democrats have expressed concerns about the act’s impact on hiring of American citizens. Democrats also have put their collective efforts into passing the DREAM Act, which would create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who came to this country while young and went on to higher education or the military.
In response to those concerns, Warner said, “We’ve got to grow jobs.” And Mr. Coons noted, “We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
“It’s new businesses that create jobs,” said Robert Litan, vice president for research and policy at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, “not necessarily small businesses.”
AOL Founder Steve Case agreed and told The New York Times, “This economy was built on risk-taking entrepreneurs. It’s important that we double down.”
Technology companies and venture capitalists are among the strongest backers of the StartUp Visa Act. One of the bill’s endorsers, Iranian-born entrepreneur and angel investor Servin Pishevar, told Bloomberg Businessweek that he had seen flourishing tech and entrepreneurial communities during his travels in places like Russia, Argentina and Jordan.
“There’s a tremendous amount of talent out there,” he said.
Senate leadership has not yet agreed to take up the StartUp Visa Act, since the immigration debate that will likely follow is not popular in an election year. Voters could well choose to punish any candidate supporting what is essentially a pro-immigration bill. Additionally, Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid may not want to see another piece of legislation distract from his prized DREAM Act; hence, the four Senators face an uphill battle. By all appearances, they remain undeterred.
“As the new guys, we didn’t get the memo that in an election year, we’re supposed to take the year off,” Warner said. “Clearly, China is not taking the year off.”
The StartUp Visa Act was the brainchild of venture capitalists Brad Feld, Dave McClure, and Eric Ries, who launched the movement after witnessing the troubles startup founders from other countries encountered when trying to obtain a U.S. visa.
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6 Comments
lostintaxes
05.31.2012
@lostintaxes
The pro-Constitutional TEA PARTY is beginning to show their muscle, as incumbents are losing their seats. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana lost his entrenched place, to a Tea Party State Treasurer Mourdock, who is displaying his mettle, by stating that he will fight to secure our borders and ensure that taxpayer dollars are only spent on those legally allowed to live in this nation. Dick Lugar had a long record of fighting aggressively for amnesty for illegal immigrants and was a primary sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would have fast-tracked amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants nationwide. The liberal Democrats have a campaign to undermine the TEA PARTY membership, which the political group is fading away, when actual fact is the numbers are climbing into the millions. Do you want to fight to keep more of your tax money being confiscated in continually coddling either the 20 million plus illegally immigrants settled here, or the millions more that still locate a way to slip into America.
There are a number of measures regular voters can press for?
One: Join your local Tea Party and unseat all the tired incumbents and elect fresh Tea Party leadership. Remove all Senators and House Representatives, who are pro-illegal immigration corrupted by the special interest groups. We should start with a clean slate and investigate the current records of bad politicians-both federal and state at the web site of ALIPAC.
SCRUTINIZE BOTH PARTIES AS THEY HAVE THEIR OWN RANCID AGENDAS? REPUBLICANS CHEAP LABOR! DEMOCRATS MORE VOTERS! FURTHER WITH THE ONCOMING ELECTIONS IN FULL SWING, WE SHOULD BE WARNED THAT NON CITIZENS ARE VOTING AND WILL VOTE IN FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. THE ONLY WAY TO STARVE THIS OFF FROM FRAUDULENT VOTING, WHICH WILL NOT COME AS NO SURPRISE IS THE EPICENTER OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. ONLY THE ISSUANCE OF A FREE GOVERNMENT PICTURE ID WILL OUR DEMOCRACY FREE OF FRAUD.
Two: Demand that House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Dave Camp of Michigan, who is Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Americans must insist these lawmakers stop blocking the 50-state H.R.2885 – Chairman Smith’s ‘Legal Workforce Act’. The E-Verify bill, should concern every jobless American residents, as if put into practice on a national scale would reject illegal foreign workers.
Stop blocking the E-Verify ‘The legal Workforce Act’ business program, to detect unauthorized workers, so they can be identified and removed.
Three: Demand that the Congress amend the ‘Birthright Citizenship’ so that no baby born in the United States receives immediate citizenship unless one parent is a U.S. citizen or a naturalized citizen. In addition stop Chain Migration as under the present law, the child more or less cements, the rest of the immediate family as a foothold. Thereby adding even more financial pressure on state taxpayers as UNFUNDED MANDATES, to pay not only for the 400.000 babies, smuggled through borders or arrive undetected at international airline arrivals. State Government says little about the (2009) $113 Billion price tag, extorted by the IRS in catering to the families of illegal aliens. No doubt in most American’s mind that the dollar figure has raised by now and until the amendment is passed, the payout will escalate?
Four: Stop our Internal Revenue Service issuing child credit money for children who do not even reside in the United States. In fact stop this use by illegal aliens collecting $4.2 Billion dollars of taxpayers’ money, for persons who have no legal status to be in the United States.
Five: No more mass importation of poorly skilled foreign nationals and those only STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workers need apply.
Six: NO more TAX & SPEND government and begin the reduction of federal agencies.
Seven: Build the double layer fence, as previously designed the Bush’s administration as the 2006 Secure Fence. To run from San Diego, CA to Brownsville, Texas with every mile festooned with razor barbed wire. In a new detection innovation reporters watched as five people walked north from the Mexican border toward the underground sensor system. When they got within about four hundred feet an alarm sounded and a Google map page popped up showing where the “intrusion” was detected. This Sonic Barrier is exemplary at even detecting low-flying ultra light aircraft, the type now being used by smugglers to haul drugs into the U.S. across the border. Mike King of Border Technology, Inc., is the inventor of the Sonic Barrier (they call it IDENTISEIS™), saying that the system is continuing to undergo testing and development, but it is seemingly more near perfection, than the old sensing units.
Eight: Punish States, counties and cities, which are allowing illegally ordinances and statutes relating to Sanctuary Cities? Cut off federal funding to these locations and prosecute all those responsible for these acts. Criminal aliens are settling in these places and have killed, maimed and molested children.
Don’t be confused by the liberal diatribe from the Liberal /Democrat mainstream media, as they are firmly impressed on pushing Obama’s plans of Socialist doctrines. We cannot keep importing more and more poverty encouraged by the government welfare placards, that if you can enter illegally, the taxpayers will care for you, from birth to the grave? We are being overwhelmed by persons who cannot speak English; therefore we spend a billion annually on translators. We pay for their children’s schooling to K-12 and in many cases college. Then the medical cost for the whole family, who eventually sneak through holes in the border or buy a airline ticket. Then there are no real true dollar figures, for loss of wages or under the table illegal workers; m any real truths are hidden from the public eye.
Start by implementing mandating E-Verify business verification computer program. It is the most effective, simple immigration enforcement identifier, along with the ‘Secure Communities’ police apprehension application to fingerprint arrests and forward them to Ice and other agencies, that will deter any illegal foreign national from stealing the millions of American jobs. The usual suspects, including high-pressure, pro illegal immigrant groups are out to eliminate these powerful programs, since enforcement of immigration laws. IN A DELIBERATE MOVE OR NOT, IT HAS BEEN CLEARLY SHOWN THAT LEGISLATORS IGNORED THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION INVADERS, BY NOT CLARIFYING THAT ILLEGAL ENTRY AS A FELONY? HOWEVER I WILL KEEP ON REMINDING VOTERS, IT’S TAXPAYERS MONEY THEY ARE SPENDING ON FOREIGN NATIONALS, ESPECIALLY IN THE SANCTUARY STATES. E-Verify has proved its merit which many treasonous lawmakers never predicted it would catch-on, with any credibility. Even now it has a success rate of 98 percent and 300.000 honest business owners are now using the program. Thus they are saving themselves from ICE audits, large fines, asset loss and even a term in prison.
Now Politicians are trapped with E-Verify because the American citizenry are fully perceptive of its use. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be on our guard, with pro-illegal immigrant legislators such as Nevada’s Sen. Harry Reid, California’s Governor Jerry Brown who want to tax their legal residence even more, to subsidize the illegal alien occupation in their states.
Trenton Paul
06.01.2012
Isn’t there a vast amount of those already here ? Looking at the jobs report…close to 50% youth unemployment ? How many are grads ?
Carol Belflower Bland
06.01.2012
No, it’s just an extension of the way foreigners come over here and start up (with grants) these nail salons and run tax free for 5 years–only to turn around and sell it to a family member, tell the feds they didn’t make any money when they had it and the fed gives them ANOTHER grant to open another nail salon or buy someone’s.
Knobby Kabushka
06.01.2012
NO! you want to start a business here, be you natural citizen or foreign, then find a way to do it without government help. You should want to start a business because that’s what you want to do or you have a inner feeling to help propser yourself and the people of a community, not because of making money off of government grants and tax credits, subsidies, etc.
Angel Heart
06.01.2012
F*ck NO!
Heidi Hammon-Turano
06.02.2012
No. We have too many as it is.