No one is more productive than a person extremely motivated to succeed.
Whether driven by the hunger for success, fear of failure or even fear of embarrassing his family, a motivated individual simply won’t quit until he realizes success. When we do not leverage this incredibly powerful drive in our immigrant population, we lose a tremendous opportunity. Immigrants who come to these United States constantly blur this idea of success with the need to survive. And as immigrants realize their fullest potential, the U.S. reaps the benefit.
As immigrant stories go, the path I traveled was relatively easy. Even my siblings had much harder routes, and I am keenly aware others’ stories are tougher still. As different as they may be, immigrant stories often represent some combination of risk, fear, sacrifice, hard work and loneliness — all in pursuit of a vision of a better life in a foreign land.
My immigrant experience has driven me since I arrived here 44 years ago. Although I serve, or have served, in significant corporate positions, I am still motivated by my early experiences on my native Caribbean twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, as well as my immigrant experiences in this country. They have always guided my career choices, including co-founding The Integral Group LLC and my service on major corporate boards.
I’m the 9th of 11 children. Despite an annual income of approximately $1,000 in U.S. dollars, my parents were unwavering in their commitment to provide us the best education the island had to offer, and a set of values to match. They expected all of us to go to college — and we did. Though I lost my parents in 1974 and 1980, I continue to feel the pressure of their high expectations, and my greatest fear is that I will disappoint them.
I felt compulsion and a sense of obligation because of the sacrifice my family and others made so we could have better opportunities in an adopted country. While in Antigua, I won a scholarship funded by a generous U.S. businessman, and I completed my final two years of high school here. It was not easy to pack up and move alone to a foreign land to pursue a hopeful but uncertain future a month after my 15th birthday.
I had my share of challenges. After seven years at the University of Pennsylvania, where I earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering and an MBA, I gave up my student visa in what was supposed to be a seamless swap for a new practical-training visa. I confirmed the “seamless” process with immigration offices in two cities. Yet two weeks later, I received a deportation notice. I did not leave the country as ordered and, for the next year and a half, I was an “illegal alien.”
Being pushed to leave the country after being educated here made no more sense to me than it does to other U.S.-educated immigrants I have encountered. Many were struggling to navigate the contradictions in the U.S. immigration system. Despite their education, some drove cabs, washed dishes and took any odd jobs they could get while living in the shadows. They became invisible. Their missed opportunities are the country’s loss.
Many of these immigrants — my friends — were not well-educated when they came here. But they were driven to succeed and survive, and that drive offers so much value to their adopted land. No country should know this better than the United States.
In an immigration system that now appears to work against its country’s own best interests, I managed to overcome my setback. Others may never do so, no matter our nation’s need for people with their specific skills or ability to help create jobs.
In truth, we need skilled workers across the labor spectrum. In real estate and other sectors, we often see that because of our country’s broken policies, we lack skilled construction workers, particularly in the residential sector. In many places, our policies have driven immigrants — including those who have strong family connections here — even deeper into the shadows of invisibility.
We should be doing the opposite. Instead of driving up costs by limiting our supply of labor, we should be driving our economy forward by tapping immigrants’ tremendous drive and potential buying power.
At Integral, our role as real estate developers and community builders gives us a good glimpse into the potential the housing market provides. Homeownership is a form of achievement, stability and wealth for immigrant families, and it plays a key role in defining success for many immigrants.
But many immigrants are unable to pursue this dream. Often, they lack documentation or are not aware of doors that may be open to them. Their families and this country lose out on the benefits that would result.
Imagine the potential we could unleash with national policies that allow hard-working immigrants to come out of the shadows, obtain legal status and be full participants in the American dream.
The politics of immigration reform are complicated, but they need not be. We gain so much from immigrants looking to build better lives for themselves and their families. We build a stronger country when we help all immigrants obtain the status, skills and opportunities to succeed.
Egbert L.J. Perry is chairman and CEO of the Integral Group LLC, an Atlanta-based real estate firm.
