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The US is Only a Leader in Tech Because of Foreign Workers

posted by martyb on Friday November 30 2018, @09:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the Quite-a-few-from-Europe-and-China,-too dept.

Whoever writes:

As a former H1 visa holder, this article interested me and shows the value that immigrants bring to the USA.

According to this opinion piece, the USA and specifically Santa Clara county is only the leader in tech because of immigrants.

In 1965, the Immigration Act of 1924 was repealed, opening the gates to immigrants and allowing a critical mass of technology companies to develop in clusters around Boston and Santa Clara County. A significant proportion of all the best graduates from the best schools in India (IIT) came to the USA -- in effect, the USA siphoned off India's best talent and used it to develop leadership in technology and to grow the economy.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Magic Oddball on Saturday December 01 2018, @09:14AM

    by Magic Oddball (3847) on Saturday December 01 2018, @09:14AM (#768586) Journal

    The people who were behind the technology that launched companies like Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, Apple Computer, IBM, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, Origin Systems International, Cisco, etc. were overwhelmingly of European descent, and the vast majority of them were born in the US. (Many did have parents or grandparents who had immigrated here legally and assimilated as rapidly as they could.) The vast majority of their skilled employees up into the 1990s were also Americans. They eventually moved the manufacturing process outside the country to save money, but those jobs had been performed by regular Americans before that point.

    Advocating for legal immigration is fine, but BSing about history to do so isn't going to do the cause any favors.

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