KJZZ is a service of Rio Salado College,
and Maricopa Community Colleges

Copyright © 2025 KJZZ/Rio Salado College/MCCCD
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

How U.S. Immigration Rules Affect International Entrepreneurs

Some of the most notable entrepreneurs in America today weren't born American. Take Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, or Pierre Omidyar, who founded eBay.

But there is no simple immigration path for international entrepreneurs to come here to start those businesses.

If you want to get a work visa in America, you have to be sponsored by a business or you have to have your own assets that you’re investing. But if you’re an entrepreneur with a great idea, and even some potential venture capital funding, there’s no visa you can apply for.

That’s why, toward the end of his administration, President Obama created the International Entrepreneur Rule which created a path for these innovators.

But the Trump administration isn’t so fond of this rule, and it’s left some entrepreneurs in the lurch. For more on this, The Show's Lauren Gilger spoke with Mo Goldman, an immigration and business lawyer based from Goldman and Goldman Immigration Law in Tucson.

Tags
Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.