Vivek Wadhwa

I came here as an immigrant.

I came here as a skilled worker.

My father was a diplomat, so I came on a diplomatic visa.

And when I came here in 1980, it took 18 months for me to get a green card.

And five years later, I was a U.S.

citizen.

I became part of the American success story.

I founded two companies, employed thousands of people at its peak.

When I became an academic several years later, I started researching U.S.

competitiveness.

and it came down to immigration.

From 1995 to 2005, a quarter of all the startups in Silicon Valley were founded by immigrants.

A decade later, the trend had become national that a quarter of all the startups all across America were founded by immigrants.

And if you looked at the top tech companies today, the bunch of Indians who are running them or who are behind the scenes developing all of the world changing technologies.

Because this is the way skilled immigrants come to the United States, that they come here either as students or they come here as workers who are working for American companies.

And that's the path to entering the United States.

And then they file for a green card after they fall in love with America.

And, you know, the process is supposed to take 18 months, not 70 years.

Every government program is susceptible to corruption and misuse.

They go to body shops, they go to companies looking for cheap labor.