Q&A: U.S. immigration policy and entrepreneurship
For U.S. citizens, the initial challenge of starting a business in America could be scraping together startup funds; for foreign-born entrepreneurs, the challenge is usually staying in the country. Under U.S. immigration policy, foreign nationals face strict visa requirements to get a company up and running, which can chase them back to their homelands or to nations offering easier visas. Because of this, policy reform has become a hot topic, recently gaining traction in Congress with the proposal of Startup Act 3.0, which would facilitate special “startup visas” for qualified immigrants. But should we be trying to retain foreign talent? How will reform affect our nation? MIT News recently spoke about these issues with three MIT experts: Bill Aulet, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship; Danielle Guichard-Ashbrook, associate dean and director of MIT’s International Student Office;...