The Big Story: House passes legislation extending pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. House lawmakers voted yesterday to approve legislation that would give approximately 2.3 million Dreamers—undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors—certain protections from deportation and would provide a pathway to citizenship if they meet certain criteria. The bill’s passage is a critical step for millions of talented immigrants who help drive innovation and job creation across the tech sector.
Among the millions of Dreamers who would receive protections under the legislation—known as the American Dream and Promise Act—are approximately 644,000 immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that was implemented by former President Barack Obama in 2012. Although the Supreme Court last year rejected the Trump administration’s attempted rollback of the DACA program, Congress needs to take legislative action in order to finally solidify the legal status of the hundreds of thousands of talented immigrants already in the country. A federal judge is still weighing a lawsuit brought by Texas and other states last year challenging the legality of the DACA program, and the ongoing suit has only underscored the need for policymakers to take action. The House’s vote on the legislation, along with another bill that would allow immigrant farmworkers to apply for legal status, comes as the Biden administration continues to pursue sweeping legislation that would, in part, establish an 8-year pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants and increase the per-country caps on employment-based visas. Both of the bills advanced by the House this week address portions of the White House’s immigration reform agenda.
By voting to extend legal certainty to millions of talented Dreamers, House lawmakers are recognizing the significant contributions that immigrants make to the U.S. economy—something that entrepreneurs have long highlighted. As Engine noted in a statement following the House vote, “Dreamers help drive U.S. innovation by launching startups, creating new jobs, and serving as critical sources of talent for the tech sector.” Dreamers and other talented foreign-born workers make significant contributions to the U.S. economy, with reports finding that immigrants launch new ventures at rates that exceed those of natural-born U.S. citizens. And providing Dreamers and DACA recipients with a streamlined pathway to citizenship will allow these talented individuals to continue putting their innovative skills to work, benefiting the future of U.S. innovation. We urge the Senate to quickly take up and pass legislation that protects Dreamers and grants them the legal certainty they need to achieve the American dream.
Policy Roundup:
Engine opposes Utah content moderation bill. Engine sent a letter to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) yesterday calling on him to veto a state bill, known as Senate Bill 228, that would limit how Internet companies can moderate user content by prohibiting “inequitable” content moderation and imposing new transparency and appeals requirements on companies. As we noted in our letter, the legislation—which was approved by Utah lawmakers earlier this month—ignores the necessity of “a dynamic content moderation strategy and would make it nearly impossible to change content moderation practices as needed.” As CCIA’s Director of Research and Economics, Trevor Wagener, noted in a recent op-ed, “[l]arger platforms may be able to absorb these regulatory costs, but smaller platforms may have little choice but to leave the Utah market.” The Utah bill comes as state legislators across the country continue to push for legislation that would make it more difficult for Internet companies to moderate user-generated content on their services.
A call for startup-driven intellectual property policy. Engine sent letters this week to the leaders of the Senate’s IP Subcommittee and the House Subcommittee on Courts, IP, and the Internet, encouraging them to preserve balanced IP frameworks, emphasize patent quality, stress modernization efforts, and advance diversity in the nation’s innovation ecosystems during the 117th Congress. As we noted in the letters, “IP policies can play an important role in supporting the nation’s innovators,” but “policymakers must prevent imbalanced IP frameworks from standing in the way of innovation and progress.” The letters identify several specific steps Congress could take, in coordination with the next USPTO Director, to support startups and advance these goals.
More calls for the next USPTO Director to prioritize patent quality. While the Biden administration has yet to name a nominee to serve as the next director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), calls from multiple sectors are coalescing around the need for a director who will prioritize quality and combat abuse of the patent system. As the National Retail Federation recently highlighted in a Morning Consult op-ed, the pandemic has increased reliance on technology for dining and shopping, which has also unfortunately made Main Street businesses “the target of opportunistic and wasteful patent litigation.” And the op-ed notes that “the impact the patent system is having on Main Street businesses must be a factor in selecting the right person to lead the [USPTO].”
Senate confirms Guzman to lead the SBA. The Senate voted this week to confirm Isabel Guzman to lead the U.S. Small Business Administration. Guzman, who previously served as director of California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate, will now oversee an agency that has been working to streamline federal relief for startups and small businesses that have been financially impacted by the pandemic.
Congress should consider startup-specific recovery concerns. Engine sent a letter to congressional leaders this week calling for policymakers to hold hearings and craft legislation in response to the unique challenges that startups have faced as a result of the pandemic. As we note in the letter, “while nascent startups and extant small businesses often have overlapping concerns, the needs of the startup ecosystem can be very different.” In order to help drive the nation’s long-term economic recovery, Congress must take steps to strengthen the startup ecosystem so early-stage companies are well-suited to boost economic and job growth moving forward.
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. flipMD is a health care startup that lets physicians find consulting opportunities and allows companies to source medical talent for their projects. We spoke with the Founder and CEO of flipMD, Lauren Hanson, to learn more about her startup’s work, her experiences as a woman founder, and her thoughts on why it’s important for health care-focused startups to connect with physician consultants.
