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Tools for Employers to Innovate

By: John Guest | 01/31/2011

At the Standing Partnership we work with many clients who understand the value of and need for attracting and retaining talented people.  As several of those organizations know, this can often involve working with innovative and hard working professionals from outside the U.S.  While the subject of immigration is often divisive, I believe having a system that allows U.S. organizations meaningful access to important contributors is critical.  So I have tried to look at the debate over immigration with this in mind.

And it appears as though President Obama agrees with me.  In last week’s State of the Union address President Obama spoke at length about our need to innovate and compete and the importance of having the best and the brightest on board for this challenge. 

As a longtime member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), I often visit the AILA website to read commentary on recent developments in immigration law.  While AILA is certainly in favor of immigration, I think its views on immigration law are informed and objective.  Today the site had what I thought was a very interesting and thoughtful review of President Obama’s State of the Union address and some of the opportunities that he championed during his remarks.

This review applauds the President’s call for innovation and reinvention and suggests that a critical component of this effort would be the creation of a more effective system of immigration.  The President’s references to the “Sputnik moment” we face recall a time when the U.S. recognized the need for innovation and talent, from wherever it came.  And in fact, many of those who contributed to the U.S. space programs greatest successes were scientists from other countries.

 Those of you who watched the address know that the President recognized immigration as a real challenge that involves acknowledging opportunities but also taking seriously threats inherent in opening our borders.  Any meaningful effort to meet these challenges will require genuine bi-partisanship. 

Posted in Employee Relations