DENVER—Delegates from the Western Hemisphere have pinpointed immigration and education as the top two issues affecting the ability of people from their countries to work together and grow their economies.
The five-day meeting at the Biennial of the Americas that began Tuesday in Denver provides a platform for leaders in business, government and the arts to examine the issues affecting life in North and South America.
Former Mexican Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan said solving immigration reform is vital to U.S. security and prosperity.
“If you, the U.S., gets it right, it will have positive radiating effects across America,” Sarukhan said to the U.S. delegation. “Immigrants aren’t a threat to the security of the United States.”
Google Inc. executive chairman Eric Schmidt said the United States remains home to 18 of the world’s top 20 research universities, but much more needs to be done to improve primary schools to prepare students for college.
Another concern for people in the Western Hemisphere is the heavy emphasis Asian countries are placing on training engineers and other technology experts. In time, those countries are expected to become the place where innovation occurs.
“It will be a disaster for the Americas,” Schmidt warned. “America takes these people from around the world, educates them in the best universities in the world in America, and then kicks them out to go to other countries to start companies that compete with us, taking jobs away.”
Liberty Media chairman John Malone, a cable television pioneer, said new technologies will have a big impact on the effectiveness and affordability of education.
———
Information from: The Denver Post,
