New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition
Spring, 2022
News and Views

Pursuing Bipartisan and Evidence-Based Immigration Reform

The Garden State Immigration Policy Institute presents:

The Role of Immigration in
Easing Labor Shortages in New Jersey

June 16, 2022, 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
The New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition is pleased to announce the formation of the Garden State Immigration Policy Institute, a joint project with the NJ Business and Industry Association (NJBIA). The Institute will serve as the educational arm of the Coalition, sponsoring a series of public programs on various aspects of immigration policy.

Our first virtual event will take place on June 16, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm, on “The Role of Immigration in Easing Labor Shortages in New Jersey.” Joining us will be a panel of New Jersey industry representatives, as well as Jon Baselice, Vice President of Immigration Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Muzaffar Chishti, Senior Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, the largest non-partisan immigration think tank in the country.

Panel members will include: Elizabeth Gill, Director of International Employment and Migration, Montclair State University; Lori Jenssen, Director, NJ Nursery and Landscape Association; Jennie Murray, Vice President of Programs, Upwardly Global; and Aaron Price, CEO of TechUnited.

Our goal for the day will be to unravel the connection between immigration policy and labor shortages, understand the immigrant needs of specific industries in New Jersey, and identify immigration policy reforms that would relieve labor shortages without having an adverse impact on American workers.

We hope you can join us for this free event. You can register on the NJBIA website. Many thanks to the law firm of Genova Burns for sponsoring this event.


Recognizing the Accomplishments of
New Jersey's
Immigrant Entrepreneurs:
The 2022 Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

Nominations due by June 30
It is no exaggeration to suggest that the U.S. entrepreneurship culture owes a great deal to the contributions of immigrants.

In every census since 1880, immigrants have been over-represented in the ranks of the self-employed. Currently, immigrants have an entrepreneurship rate of 0.52%, or 520 entrepreneurs for every 100,000 immigrants compared to 0.26% for native-born Americans. Not only are they creating jobs for themselves, but for millions of other Americans. Forty-three percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by first- or second-generation immigrants.

In recognition of the outsized role that immigrants have played in boosting our economy, the NJ Business Immigration Coalition is soliciting nominations for its 9th annual Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year awards competition. The Coalition confers awards in six categories: growth, advocacy, innovation, nonprofit entrepreneurship, rising star, and entrepreneur of the year. Detailed information about the various categories may be found at this link.

Our partner for this year's competition will be the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce. Winners will be announced at a special event organized by the Chamber on September 21.

If you know of someone deserving of one of these awards, please take the time to submit a nomination form. Immigrants may also nominate themselves. Nominations must be submitted by June 30.
James Barrood is the founder and CEO of Innovation+, a curated global community of entrepreneurs and innovators. He previous served as CEO of the NJ Tech Council (now called TechUnited) and led Farleigh Dickinson University's Entrepreneurship Center for 10+ years

TED Talk on the
Vital Contributions of
Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Listen to James Barrood as he reflects on the important impact immigrant entrepreneurs have had on our innovation ecosystem and society at large. He argues that immigrants are critical to our nation’s resurgence as an epicenter of invention, entrepreneurship and progress.

For an in-depth discussion of immigrant entrepreneurship,
you may want to participate in an upcoming webinar sponsored by the
Immigration Project of the Bipartisan Policy Center

Monday, June 13, 2022 ET, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET

For more information, click here
COMMENTARY AND NEWS YOU CAN USE
Bret Stephens: "Replacement" is as old as America itself, but a better word for it is "renewal"
Study: Immigrants in the U.S. are more likely to start firms, create jobs
Biden administration temporarily extending window for expired work permits amid backlog
The Biden Administration Needs to Change Course on Green Cards Before It's Too Late
Incentivizing U.S. workers Won't "Come Anywhere Close" to Solving the Skilled Nursing Facility Labor Crisis
According to the global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, the labor shortage is a demographic and immigration problem
Senators to restart bipartisan immigration reform talks
U.S. immigration agency moves to cut 9.5 million case backlog and speed up processing
Paper examines the reasons for the recent decline in U.S. net migration
Immigrant Labor Holds the Key to Whether Americans Can Age at Home
Time to press pause on decades of immigration trench warfare
Coalition Weighs in on Current Congressional Conference Committee Deliberations on the America COMPETES Act
In a statement recently sent to all members of the New Jersey congressional delegation, the Coalition praised the House and Senate for taking actions to strengthen the nation’s competitiveness through policy changes and increased investments in federal STEM education programs, scientific research, research infrastructure, and innovation programs.

As the conference committee seeks to work out differences in the House-passed and Senate-passed versions of the bill, the Coalition urged retention of provisions of the bill that provide important new pathways for entrepreneurs and critical STEM talent to enter the American economy.

One provision creates a start-up visa for immigrant entrepreneurs which can be converted into a permanent visa if investment and job creation goals are met within a certain time frame.

The provision allows the U.S. to compete with other countries, like Canada, that have implemented similar programs to attract top talent to their countries. The bipartisan National Foundation for American Policy estimates that the startup visa program could create 1 to 3 million jobs over a decade. The National Venture Capital Association believes that this new visa category “will allow the world’s best entrepreneurs to create the next generation of great companies that will ensure the United States remains the global leader in technology and innovation.”

Another key provision provides a direct path to permanent residence for Ph.D. recipients in STEM fields. As immigrants make up almost half (46.3%) of all STEM PhDs at U.S. Universities, this provision opens another important door for top talent to enter the country, allowing U.S. employers to gain an important competitive advantage by recruiting, and offering permanent residence, to outstanding STEM specialists from around the world.

At present, our immigration system provides very limited opportunities for high-skilled immigrants to strengthen our economy. These provisions help to correct that problem.

Tim Kane on Why Politics Often Blocks the Goal of Immigration Reform

"With frustration and bemusement, I have now witnessed firsthand three presidents and many more Congresses try and fail to reform the deeply dysfunctional rules and regulations that are known as the US immigration system.

I can tell you exactly why the effort keeps failing. Frankly, many legislators want reform to fail because unsolved problems are invaluable for election campaigns. It may be cynical to suggest disingenuous politicians pretend to advance legislation by nodding seriously during hearings and asking serious questions while secretly slow-rolling the process and sabotaging complex bills with not-so-innocent amendments, but that's the political game. And anyone who really wants to fix US immigration has to undertake the political game in order to win."

Excerpt from: Tim Kane, The Immigrant SuperPower, 2022, p. 6. A former research fellow at the Hoover Institution and chief economist at the Hudson Institute, Tim Kane is currently the host and co-producer of Why America? a podcast discussing the benefits of US immigration with famous and influential immigrants.
GET INVOLVED: We want to hear from you!

  • Check out our NJ Business Immigration Coalition policy platform here and if your company or organization (or you as an individual) agrees with our principles for immigration reform, sign up as a member of the coalition.

  • Share your thoughts on the immigration reform challenges facing the United States. How is your industry affected? What specific reform proposals are you championing? Write us at: info@njbusinessimmigration.org
Welcome to New Members of the
NJ Business Immigration Coalition

Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce
Mercer County Office of Economic Development
Passaic County Office of Economic Development
The New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition,
c/o Einstein's Alley, P.O. Box 175, Plainsboro NJ 08536,
njbic@einsteinsalley.org
Newsletter Editor: Nicholas V. Montalto
THE NEW JERSEY BUSINESS IMMIGRATION COALITION