Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report co-authored by the Progressive Policy Institute’s Caleb Watney and Doug Rand and Lindsay Milliken of the Federation of American Scientists, highlights a significant opportunity for the Biden Administration to boost entrepreneurship and create up to a million new jobs through a little-known immigration rule.

For the United States in particular, foreign-born entrepreneurs have made up an extraordinary share of our most successful companies and technological achievements. To encourage the vitally important flow of immigrant entrepreneurs, and to accommodate the growing need for an entrepreneur-specific pathway into the country, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) adopted the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER) in early 2017.

The rule was quickly put on hold by the incoming Trump Administration but was never removed from the Code of Federal Regulations. According to the new report, with support from the Biden Administration, the IER could quickly become an essential pathway to attract and retain foreign-born entrepreneurs who seek to build their businesses within the United States.

KEY PROPOSALS INCLUDE: 

• Publicize the International Entrepreneur Rule and credibly signal to stakeholders that the IER will receive agency attention and resources
• Issue new guidance documents to agency adjudicators to clarify evidentiary standards and make it reasonably straightforward for investors to prove they meet qualifying criteria
• Issue new guidance directing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to grant beneficiaries the full initial 30 months of parole, absent extraordinary circumstances
• Issue future rulemaking to improve the IER based on feedback from stakeholder groups
• Pursue a long-term legislative solution to stabilize immigration pathways for entrepreneurs

Co-author Caleb Watney, the director of innovation policy at PPI, had this to say about the findings and key proposals: “Countries all over the world are competing to attract the best talent to their shores. Unlike Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, the United States has no statutory immigration pathway designed for entrepreneurs. The International Entrepreneur Rule is a powerful tool to help solve this gap and should be embraced by the Biden Administration to increase U.S. dynamism, economic growth, and job creation. Now is the time to build back better and ensure the United States’ place as the best place to start a new business and to welcome brilliant entrepreneurs from across the globe.”