By Sara Itucas, Cofounder and COO of Legalpad

The United States is the nation of immigrants. 47 million live here today — more than anywhere else in the world. Many are leaders in their communities, innovators, scholars, full-time moms and dads, athletes. In short, they’re no different than those of us born in the U.S., except for a word or two pasted on the front of their passport.

They lead all walks of life, and come from all over the world, but there’s one common thread amongst immigrants: the will and determination to upend their lives and seek opportunity in the U.S. For many, that dream has come true. And for a select few, it has surpassed their wildest expectations. In fact, nearly half of Fortune 500 companies today were founded either by immigrants or their children.

The data is in. Open immigration creates wealth in America, both economically and socially.

Yet for many, their status has come under increased threat in the past years. In 2017, an Executive Order set a travel ban for a seemingly random list of Muslim countries. A year later, thousands of children were taken away from their parents and detained in Texas under heinous conditions. And just this summer, a presidential order to deport more than one million international scholars, many of whom will be the innovators of tomorrow. With a stroke of luck, these students have, for the most part, been able to stay.

At Legalpad (Techstars Seattle 2018), we fight every day to obtain work visas for immigrants. In today’s landscape, that’s easier said than done, with a constant flux of regulations that make immigrating to the United States extremely difficult and daunting. But inspired by the determination of our clients, we’ve successfully enabled many innovators and entrepreneurs to build the company of their dreams here in the U.S.A.

Learn more about Legalpad — and how Techstars helped them succeed.

We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished at Legalpad so far, and we know it wouldn’t have been possible without the investment Techstars made in our team. Every founder that goes through the program knows the mantra: Give First. Legalpad is excited to give back to the community that has already given us so much.

The combination of a protectionist administration and a global pandemic create unprecedented challenges for those who want to immigrate to the United States. We remain hopeful that as we reach a new net normal, both in the U.S. and around the world, international talent will continue to bring their skill and determination to build great things here, and we'll be at-the-ready to help them do it. It's an honor to play a part in their dreams becoming a reality.

As a Techstars Global Network Partner, Legalpad offers free office hours and consultations to all Techstars founders. For founders seeking the O-1, Legalpad also offers a discount package. Find out more at http://legalpad.io/techstars.

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