3 note-worthy stats from Stephen Tang’s op-ed on immigration policy

The academic sector has been up in arms against the latest immigration policies enacted by President Donald Trump’s administration.

In Philly, the latest voice to be raised was that of University City Science Center CEO Stephen Tang by way of an op-ed published Wednesday by Philly.com.

“As the son of immigrant scientists — and as a scientist myself — I am deeply troubled by the Trump administration’s immigration policy,” Tang wrote. “As the leader of a tech-based, economic development organization, I’m even more apprehensive about the policy’s impact on innovation, entrepreneurship, and America’s ability to compete on a global scale.”

The piece includes shoutouts to ROAR for Good founder Yasmine Mustafa, a Palestinian immigrant from Kuwait; and UE LifeSciences founder and Indian immigrant Mihir Shah. (See Mustafa featured in our roundup of 12 immigrant founded companies.)

But most important, Tang shared some stats that shine some light into the impact of immigrant entrepreneurs on the broader economic climate:

• Immigrants account for about 13 percent of the U.S. population. but make up one quarter of America’s entrepreneurs.
• About 30 percent of venture-backed founders are immigrant entrepreneurs.
• Over half of America’s startups valued at $1 billion or more were started by immigrants.

“These numbers — and the voices and sacrifices behind them — are missing from our national debate on immigration,” wrote Tang. “And that omission is creating a dangerous distortion in the immigration narrative.”