Speech #1090091812

At IBM Research and Intel. for example. foreign nationals make up about a third of highlevel researchers. At the National Institutes of Health. foreignborn workers make up about half of researchers. In Americas top immigration States. foreignborn workers account for 40 percent of teachers and more than a quarter of physicians. chemists. and economists. Fourth. immigrants drive entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is the irreplaceable genius that sparks economic growth. For every famous immigrant entrepreneur like Hungarian financier George Soros or Belgian designer Liz Claiborne. legions of other immigrants push the limits of the economy. or simply provide a neighborhood service. For more than a century. immigrants have been more likely than nativeborn Americans to be selfemployed entrepreneurs. Since the 1970s. immigrants have helped reverse a national decline in selfemployment. Immigrantrun businesses create jobs. tax revenues. and growth. Even small neighborhood businesses can revitalize entire neighborhoods. And small businesses are the primary driver of new jobs. Immigrants also swell the ranks of hightechnology entrepreneurs. Most of the foreignborn scientists and engineers in Silicon Valley have helped found or run a startup company. Sixty percent of Indian scientists there have participated in startups. And fully threequarters of Indians and most of the Chinese scientists there have plans to start a business. These entrepreneurs are thinking about tomorrows economy today. Immigrants devote their labor. They boost our balance sheets. They drive innovation. And they energize entrepreneurship. Immigrants are vital to our economic competitiveness. Unfortunately. America is not welcoming global talent and labor. In some cases. we have pulled In welcome mat. State Department visa procedures and security checks intended to keep out terrorists are instead keeping out talent. In the postSeptember 11 world. America must vigilantly protect its borders.