When natural born Americans think of immigrants, all too often the images that come to their minds are very stereotyped, and don’t represent the truth about people who come to the US and their children.
Time Magazine‘s Rana Foroohar tells us, “Immigrants, or the children of immigrants, founded 40% of this country’s Fortune 500 firms and untold millions of smaller businesses.” Later in the same article, Foroohar adds, “Let’s start with the wage issue. Creating a path to legal immigration would put an end to immigrants’ being oppressed and used to keep wages down. Immigration reform is something that both labor and many big businesses support (since it also helps ensure a supply of needed workers).”
When we consider that nearly half of all of our country’s most lucrative businesses were founded by immigrants, we know one thing for sure: they’re not scared of hard work and using elbow grease and brain power at the same time. Getting a good education, raising a family, and then deciding on the tough road of entrepreneurship takes many sleepless nights, lots of patience, and most of all a desire to get it done—something immigrants have in spades regardless of their “mother country.”
Latin American, Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern alike, people who come to the US with a higher purpose achieve their goals with both smart and hard work. By putting the time in to reduce a foreign accent, learn the culture and customs of America, and learn how to speak English fluently, foreign-born entrepreneurs will create the upper hand for themselves.
Real entrepreneurs and businesspersons know the difference between the career and paycheck they want often rests not in their education, but in their ability to have that education shine. Being able to speak English without an accent means these awesome minds have a voice, and once their ideas are heard, we see very simply what happens next: our economy improves, our business sectors flourish, and jobs are created.
The real job creators are not people or political parties and groups, but opportunities, such as the opportunity to perfect the American English accent, the opportunity to let resume experience shine, and the chance to learn about American culture through work and school peers. Given these opportunities, immigrants from anywhere and everywhere are making this country a better, more prosperous place to live, work, and do business.
