Tech companies across the U.S. have been engaged in a virtual march on Washington for the last two days. The March for Innovation is a concerted effort to raise awareness about the need for immigration reform within the tech industry (and others), as well as a cohesive opportunity for the industry’s leaders, workers, and supporters to make their voices heard. People are encouraged to call, email, and tweet to their Senators to encourage them to support immigration reform when it moves to the full Senate for a vote.

Earlier today, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group hosted a Google+ hangout to talk about the importance of immigration reform. Carl Guardino hosted the conversation and interviewed two prominent members of the tech industry about their personal experience with the U.S.’s broken immigration system: Eisar Lipkovitz, Vice President of Engineering at Google, and Rob Matei of Quora.

In addition to sharing their personal experiences, Mr. Lipkovitz and Mr. Matei also brought up some interesting points about the immigration discussions.

Staying competitive in a global innovation economy

While the U.S. is currently among the global leaders in technology and innovation, it may not stay that way if we fail to modernize our immigration system. Rob Matei (of Quora) pointed out that immigrants “jump through a lot of hoops” to live and work here, and that some people are giving up and moving to countries with a simpler immigration system (like Canada, Austrlia, or New Zealand).

While other high-tech countries are difficult to immigrate to also, many people believe the window of opportunity may be closing to lead the immigration innovation. For example, Mr. Lipkovitz noted, the Canadian startup visa program has already begun recruiting in Silicon Valley; for those whose opportunities are limited in the U.S., why not move to a country where their talent and education is valued?

The concerns about updating our immigration system

Mr. Lipkovitz also expressed his understanding about why there is opposition towards modernizing our immigration system.

  • Security concerns: Making it easier for immigrants to come here might make it easier for terrorism to occur, or encourage others to immigrate illegally.
  • Burden on social services: In some other countries, welfare and social services have been overburdened by immigrants who would take advantage of the system.
  • Labor and wage concerns: Allowing a multitude of immigrants could saturate the labor force and cause a decrease in wages for U.S. citizens doing similar jobs.

How to get involved with the March for Innovation

If you want to get involved and help make your voice heard for immigration reform, you can join the March for Innovation in several ways.

  • Call, email, Facebook, or tweet to your Senators
  • Encourage your friends to do the same
  • Change your profile picture or Twitter avatar to the iMarch logo
  • Visit the iMarch website or Facebook page
  • Watch the video from today’s Google+ hangout