Give up your iPhone. And no more Googling. Or Boeing.
Much of the power of the United States rests on its economic might, and while many claim the real point of the immigration debate is one of legality, we can’t forget that, legal or not, immigrants have faced virulent discrimination no matter what their status. Yet, despite the challenges, they have risen to the pinnacles of success, bringing us along for the ride, in one form or another.
We can continue to welcome the best of the best or watch from the sidelines as they seek the next land of opportunity. This one’s for everyone from the family working day in and day out at the local store to the leaders of America’s most vibrant companies.
A Syrian immigrant named Abdulfattah Jandali is denied entry to the U.S., where he would have met a woman named Joanne Schieble, who would have given birth to Steve Jobs.
No immigrant, no Apple.
Same with Google, eBay, Intel, Boeing, and many more, as this brief video tour of lost dreams shows.
OK, so it’s not The Man in the High Castle. But surveying the American business landscape without these great companies founded by immigrants or their children, it’s a pretty sobering counterfactual in its own right.
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