The words ‘Silicon Valley’ can evoke many things – from innovation to growth to the high-energy productivity to be found in the southern Bay Area of California. All across the world people seek to establish their own local Silicon Valley, their own sector with all of these qualities, using the original as a template. However many forward-thinking qualities the words might stand for, ‘Silicon Valley’ first and foremost denotes an actual place, a physical region of the world that human beings can travel to.
Since Silicon Valley is a physical region of the world, people need to actually be able to get there to tap into its networks and its culture. The ability to attract the top talent of the world – and to have the top talent of the world actually be able to get there – is what has proven key to Silicon Valley’s success. This factor is what makes immigration so important for Silicon Valley, for America, and for technology across the world. It is also what has led a group of 127 leading technology companies to file a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the dramatic restrictions imposed upon immigration by the Trump administration.
“Immigrants make many of the nation’s greatest discoveries, and create some of the country’s most innovative and iconic companies,” wrote the companies, justifying their moral and legal claims against the constitutionality of Trump’s executive orders. “Immigrants are among our leading entrepreneurs, politicians, artists and philanthropists. The experience and energy of people who come to our country to seek a better life for themselves and their children — to pursue the American Dream — are woven throughout the social, political and economic fabric of the nation.”
The facts bear them out. In 2016, researchers at the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, examined the 87 privately held American startups that were valued at $1 billion or more at the time. More than half of them were found to have been founded by one or more people who had immigrated to the United States. Almost three quarters – 71 percent – of these companies also held immigrants in critical roles on their executive teams.
Even a casual glance at the most successful technology companies support their claims. Ebay was founded by an Iranian-American born in France; Yahoo was co-founded by a Taiwanese-American; Google was co-founded by a Russian immigrant, with its current chief executive hailing from India. Microsoft, too, has promoted an Indian-born man to its Chief Executive position. Even the legendary Steve Jobs was himself was a child of immigrants. Countless further examples exist.
The individuals who make up these companies, the people who are already successful, would likely be okay in the short term if all of Trump’s agenda were enacted immediately. They’d likely still have health insurance in the case of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, they wouldn’t face any inconvenience from a giant border wall with Mexico, and income tax cuts would certainly help fund a luxury vacation or three. Nevertheless, they have come out in strong and near-unanimous opposition to the controversial orders of our current President, recognizing that stopping the extreme crackdowns on immigration is key to their own long-term survival. In this case, the world’s largest companies are acting – correctly – both selfishly and progressively at the same time.
Immigration has proven a boon for the tech community even here in Orlando. Carlos Carbonell, CEO of Echo and founding board member of the Orlando Tech Association (among many other things), came to the United States as an immigrant from Panama at the age of 13. Speaking to the Orlando Business Journal, he said that “In Orlando, we are perceived as a red state and if Trump’s presidency continues on his view of immigrants, we will have a tough time attracting immigrants and in-turn, we would have a hard time attracting tech startups.” Here, as with everywhere a thriving technology community can be found, immigration is essential to attract top talent from all over the globe. Keeping the door open for them to come in will help to build a better and brighter world for everyone.
