US Illegal Immigrants and the Economical Effects of the Migratory Reform
The current number of immigrants in the country is about 37.46 millions and the 32% remains illegally in the US territory1. According to the Border Protection, Counter-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control, approved last year by the government, the aliens who work and live undocumented in the country will have strong and drastic penalties, but how hard will be the stroke of missing such a great quantity of consumers and entrepreneurs, as immigrants are, for the US economy?
As shown by studies done in the last year, the contribution of immigrants in the US economy is everything but insignificant. One of the conclusions of a national survey commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association and made by Stuart Anderson and Mary Platzer last year was: "Immigrant entrepreneurs and professionals contribute significantly to job creation and innovation ... shows the striking propensity of immigrants to start and grow successful American companies2.
In a research made by the UC Berkeley School of Information and the Duke University the numbers confirmed that: ..."the 25.3% of the engineering and technology companies started in the U.S. from 1995 to 2005 and at least one key founder was foreign-born... nationwide, these immigrant-founded companies produced $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers in 2005...immigrants have become a significant driving force in the creation of new businesses and intellectual property in the U.S."3.
Meanwhile other immigrants have become employees in construction, landscaping or restaurants doing their job for lower salaries that allow having better prices for the customers. Some managers accept that without these conditions it would be harder and more expensive to face the challenges in those markets.
Other important matters are the business focused on the immigrants needs like the international calling cards, specialized supermarkets or restaurants. These projects grew due to the purchasing behavior of the immigrants. The number of immigrants is not that significant to spoil the US economy but it is pretty enough to change small industries into profitable enterprises.
Now not only the aliens are the consumers of these products and services but also the Americans can supply their needs with the emerging market.
An illustrative case is Viapin.com, a prepaid phone cards company that started in Virginia in 2004 and reached almost 1.000 customers in the first year; today other 19.000 buyers have joint them. The idea of the business was to provide a service for immigrants so they could contact their families around the world. Now not only Latin-American, African, Asian and European immigrants use their service but also the North Americans purchase Viapin's products to call soldiers, students or relatives who are temporary outside the country. The company's annual sales are about $516 thousand dollars4.
The U.S. News & World Report found other example of a business created for immigrants in New Jersey: Alfredo Rodriguez owns a 53,000-square-foot supermarket; he transformed it to experience with the tastes of Hispanic shoppers five years ago. Nowadays 90% of his customers are Latin American immigrants, and the purchases of 5,000 buyers who visit his store weekly enhance his annual sales to $9 million dollars5.
The question if the lack of immigrants affects or not the US economy should be first answered by us: immigrant's employers or employees, immigrant's customers or sellers and also immigrant's neighbors, who daily deal with the situation.
A reform that involves the businesses around the immigrants should take these topics into consideration before putting the last period. Immigration is a very significant phenomenon that some how have got in our society, so we have two options, either go against it or take economic advantage of it.
1. Foreign-Born Population of the United States from the American Community Survey in www.census.gov
2. The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness, in www.nvca.org
3. America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs in memp.pratt.duke.edu
4. Viapin.com
5. Immigrants: the Unsung Heroes of the U.S. Economy, Money & Business, in www.usnews.com
As shown by studies done in the last year, the contribution of immigrants in the US economy is everything but insignificant. One of the conclusions of a national survey commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association and made by Stuart Anderson and Mary Platzer last year was: "Immigrant entrepreneurs and professionals contribute significantly to job creation and innovation ... shows the striking propensity of immigrants to start and grow successful American companies2.
In a research made by the UC Berkeley School of Information and the Duke University the numbers confirmed that: ..."the 25.3% of the engineering and technology companies started in the U.S. from 1995 to 2005 and at least one key founder was foreign-born... nationwide, these immigrant-founded companies produced $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers in 2005...immigrants have become a significant driving force in the creation of new businesses and intellectual property in the U.S."3.
Meanwhile other immigrants have become employees in construction, landscaping or restaurants doing their job for lower salaries that allow having better prices for the customers. Some managers accept that without these conditions it would be harder and more expensive to face the challenges in those markets.
Other important matters are the business focused on the immigrants needs like the international calling cards, specialized supermarkets or restaurants. These projects grew due to the purchasing behavior of the immigrants. The number of immigrants is not that significant to spoil the US economy but it is pretty enough to change small industries into profitable enterprises.
Now not only the aliens are the consumers of these products and services but also the Americans can supply their needs with the emerging market.
An illustrative case is Viapin.com, a prepaid phone cards company that started in Virginia in 2004 and reached almost 1.000 customers in the first year; today other 19.000 buyers have joint them. The idea of the business was to provide a service for immigrants so they could contact their families around the world. Now not only Latin-American, African, Asian and European immigrants use their service but also the North Americans purchase Viapin's products to call soldiers, students or relatives who are temporary outside the country. The company's annual sales are about $516 thousand dollars4.
The U.S. News & World Report found other example of a business created for immigrants in New Jersey: Alfredo Rodriguez owns a 53,000-square-foot supermarket; he transformed it to experience with the tastes of Hispanic shoppers five years ago. Nowadays 90% of his customers are Latin American immigrants, and the purchases of 5,000 buyers who visit his store weekly enhance his annual sales to $9 million dollars5.
The question if the lack of immigrants affects or not the US economy should be first answered by us: immigrant's employers or employees, immigrant's customers or sellers and also immigrant's neighbors, who daily deal with the situation.
A reform that involves the businesses around the immigrants should take these topics into consideration before putting the last period. Immigration is a very significant phenomenon that some how have got in our society, so we have two options, either go against it or take economic advantage of it.
1. Foreign-Born Population of the United States from the American Community Survey in www.census.gov
2. The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness, in www.nvca.org
3. America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs in memp.pratt.duke.edu
4. Viapin.com
5. Immigrants: the Unsung Heroes of the U.S. Economy, Money & Business, in www.usnews.com
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