Governor Rick Snyder says he’s pleased the proposed federal immigration overhaul includes more visas for investors and entrepreneurs.
As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, the governor says he wants a lot of those visas for Michigan.
Governor Snyder says a relaxed immigration policy can bring investment dollars and entrepreneurs who want to start businesses. He says a natural pool of entrepreneurs is students from overseas who graduate from Michigan’s public universities.
“The realities are we should be giving those individuals green cards,” he says. “We should do the background checks and everything else, but they should be getting a green card because they’re going to create jobs.”
There is research that shows immigrants are twice as likely as native-born Americans to start a business.
Business leaders also say less restrictive immigration rules can help them fill a shortage of high-tech workers. Agri-business and the tourism industry also hope the immigration overhaul will make it easier for them to hire seasonal workers.