Immigration reform: Forward march | The Economist

“WE HAVE a strange immigration policy for a nation of immigrants,” writes Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Facebook, in an op-ed in the Washington Post.“Insane” would have been a more appropriate adjective to use. By turning away hordes of talented foreigners keen to work in the country—and by turfing out amazingly talented foreign students who want to stay after their studies—America is handicapping itself just as other countries are doing everything they can to woo skilled foreigners to their shores.

Nowhere is the frustration at this dire state of affairs felt more acutely than in Silicon Valley, which has a habit of producing world-beating companies by backing hoodie-clad techies from abroad. Hence Mr Zuckerberg’s op-ed, in which he announces the launch of FWD.us (or “Forward US” in non tech-speak), which has the makings of a big super-PAC, or well-funded political action committee. A host of Valley luminaries—including Marissa Mayer, the boss of Yahoo, Ron Conway, a prominent angel investor, and John Doerr, a leading venture capitalist—are among the new initiative’s backers.

FWD.us will be led by Joe Green, a college friend of Mr Zuckerberg’s who has considerable experience of using online tools to drum up support for causes. Although it is likely to focus on immigration reform initially, the advocacy group will also lobby for change in both the education arena and America's backing of fundamental scientific research.

The new group marks a sea change in thinking amongst Silicon Valley’s leaders. Although they have been big funders of political campaigns, especially those of Democratic candidates, tech types have tended to avoid aggressive lobbying. This reflects a long-standing wariness of government amongst entrepreneurs. But battles over initiatives such as the Stop Online Piracy Act—and ongoing political wrangling over immigration reform—have convinced at least some of the Valley’s elite that they need to take a more forceful approach inside the Beltway.

This has created some friction with long-standing tech industry groups, who fear that a more aggressive approach to lobbying by a few billionaires from California could raise the hackles of politicians unnecessarily and give ammunition to opponents who argue that the push to liberalise immigration risks destroying jobs of native born Americans while benefiting fat cats in tech havens like Silicon Valley.

That is why it is important to highlight—as we do in an article in this week’s issue of The Economist, which went to press before the FWD.us launch occurred—that immigrant entrepreneurs in places such as the Bay Area don’t just create jobs locally. Even early on in their development, they often set up new offices and factories in other parts of the country to get closer to customers and to tap fresh talent pools. These jobs, together with those created by local entrepreneurs, also produce many others locally through an impressive multiplier effect, which Mr Zuckerberg refers to in his op-ed. If FWD.us can help get that message across to politicians and voters, it will help ensure that America’s economic motor doesn’t go into reverse.

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