The reversal of a plan to force international students to go home is great news on several fronts.
The Trump administration’s decision Tuesday to drop its cruel, chaos-creating plan to force international college students to leave the nation if they were only taking online courses because of the pandemic is great news for those students, their colleges and the U.S. economy. But the issues raised by the now-rescinded policy aren’t going away any time soon. The hostility toward immigrants and potential immigrants by President Donald Trump and too many Americans needs to be addressed.
Yes, there are occasionally horror stories of Americans with tech jobs being forced to train lower-paid replacements with H-1B foreign employee visas. But the fact is that talented international workers allowed to get U.S. visas or citizenship create far more jobs than they take because of their outsized role in entrepreneurship.
It’s not just South African-born Elon Musk. Forbes reported last year that 50 of 91 — 55 percent — of U.S. startup companies valued at $1 billion or more were launched by immigrants from 25 different nations. Immigrants also played crucial roles as members of management or product development teams at 23 of these startups launched by U.S. natives.
The reality is that these individuals didn’t replace talented Americans. They hired them by the tens of thousands. Instead of sending international students home, the U.S. government should offer work visas to those with coveted job skills. The president is wrong. Immigration helps our nation enormously.
— SAN DIEGOUNION-TRIBUNE