
Trying Something New on Immigration in Colorado - prostoalex
http://www.feld.com/archives/2015/03/trying-something-new-immigration-colorado.html
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Lawtonfogle
H1B and Immigration should be kept separate. Personally I'm pro-immigration
and anti-H1B because of the potential for the H1B relationship to be abused in
ways that are a detriment to both the one with the H1B and to the general
employees in the same field. Personally, I have the skills to compete with an
Immigrant for a fair paid position. I do not want to be competing for
depressed wages against a H1B worker who has legally enforced company loyalty
lest they be deported.

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dominotw
>Personally I'm pro-immigration and anti-H1B

That statement is self contradicting, since H1B is the _only_ way to immigrate
to USA.

Edit: Unless you already have family here willing to sponsor your PR.

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toomuchtodo
No, it isn't. To argue such is disingenuous. You can be for the idea of
immigration but believe the current H1-B system is a sham setup as an
indentured servitude model to a majority of its participants.

~~~
dominotw
>No, it isn't.

Care to tell me what are the other practical avenues for people to immigrate
to US if they are not a noble laureate or an olympic gold medalist ?

~~~
yummyfajitas
About 2/3 of US immigration is nepotism based.

[http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/family-
reunification#...](http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/family-
reunification#1)

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terravion
This is fantastic! I hope it soon makes moot many of the immigration
restrictions on talented technologists.

We make it so hard to recruit great talent in this country and so hard for
talented entrepreneurs--who often don't qualify for work or family based visas
--to get a visa.

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wooyi
It's great to see individuals/institutions being innovative on this front. I
applaud Brad, his wife and CU for this.

For Americans afraid of immigrants (H1B or other types) stealing your jobs -
research shows that you'll likely be better off in the long run.

[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/debunking-the-
myt...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/debunking-the-myth-of-the-
job-stealing-immigrant.html?_r=0)

Entrepreneurs don't steal jobs - they create jobs.

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krrishd
This is great to hear, I know Craig has spent upwards of a year making this
happen and it's awesome to see it come to fruition. Hopefully this kind of
thing moves beyond Boulder into other places.

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jabo

      Consistent with university policy and applicable law, entrepreneurs in 
      the program will be free to work on their existing entrepreneurial ventures or 
      start a new company in one of the best entrepreneurial communities in the world.
    

Isn't the requirement for a H1B visa that the "non-immigrant alien" not work
for any other company/institution other than the one that sponsored the visa?
How does the program get around that?

~~~
pandaman
Full-time employment is also a requirement (and I believe 20h per week is not
considered full-time in the visa context) so either they've found a way around
the law or the USCIS is going to bust them.

~~~
chetanahuja
I don't think full-time employment is a strict requirement of the H1B visa.
It's just that most companies wouldn't go through the hassle of H1B
sponsorship (and it's a huuuuge hassle for both the employer and the employee)
for a part time employee.

~~~
pandaman
I stand corrected, it's not a requirement per se, it's just a part-time H1B
still has to meet the prevailing wage requirement, which is established for
the full-time job.

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codeonfire
The university can't discriminate based on country of origin, which is exactly
what is being proposed:

"we are particularly focused on international entrepreneurs."

It doesn't matter if you give the money to CU and then the university hires
someone "international." It's still discrimination at a public institution.
Personally I don't understand why they insist on having someone non-American
on H1B or why they absolutely must travel to the US to start a start-up. Give
someone money where they already live. Don't exclude Americans. What's so hard
about that?

~~~
pmorici
The Supreme Court has said that making employment decisions based on
citizenship status doesn't qualify as discrimination under the civil rights
act because citizenship status is not the same thing as "national origin"
which is what the law prohibits discrimination on.

ESPINOZA v. FARAH MFG. CO., 414 U.S. 86 (1973)

[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vo...](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=414&invol=86)

~~~
codeonfire
Regardless, what is the motivation to want to discriminate? The only thing I
can see is that having someone in the US under H1B gives them power over that
person.

~~~
chetanahuja
_" having someone in the US under H1B gives them power over that person."_

Wow... way to not only completely misinterpret the intent but to completely
reverse it. Before this program there were exactly zero legal avenues for a
not-already-rich aspiring startup founder from another country to come here
with the express purpose of starting a business. Now there is one.

~~~
tonymillion
"exactly zero legal avenues"

In this day of age you very rarely need to be permanently physically present
in the US to own and run a US business, and once your business passes the
threshold of actually being viable theres multiple routes to getting a Visa.

There's the whole E2 Visa system specifically designed for this. In addition
after a year in business there is a L1a route too, assuming the business goes
anywhere.

Admittedly theres very little room for a "starving devpreneur who is making
some social app that doesn't make any money", but assuming such an app can
take off then the investment they could raise would instantly get them to
quality for a visa too.

