Bloomberg: U.S. Immigration Policy Is ‘National Suicide’
Jennifer Epstein, Politico, June 15, 2011
In a major speech to the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the United States risks “national suicide” if it doesn’t adopt a more welcoming immigration policy.
“We will not remain a global superpower if we continue to close our doors to people who want to come here to work hard, start businesses, and pursue the American dream,” Bloomberg said.
“The American dream cannot survive if we keep telling the dreamers to go elsewhere,” the mayor adds. “It’s what I call national suicide–and that’s not hyperbole.”
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Bloomberg’s speech comes as the Partnership for a New American Economy, of which he is a co-chair, releases a report looking at the role that immigrants play at Fortune 500 companies and the potential. Forty percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants, the report notes. Together, the companies employ more than 10 million people worldwide and generate annual revenue of $4.2 trillion.
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The federal government, he says, must introduce a pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million people in the country who entered illegally or overstayed visas. He’d also like to [see] an increase on the number of H1-B visas awarded by the government.
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Editor’s note: Be sure to check out the report referenced above. Scroll down to Appendix B to see where all these talented immigrants (or their parents) came from.
