President Trump announced on Tuesday his decision to end an Obama-era policy that allows close to 1 million undocumented people who immigrated to the US as children to live and work in the US without facing deportation.
For the 800,000 people protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration (DACA) policy, their future in the US is uncertain. Congress has six months to pass legislation to protect DACA recipients before the policy goes into effect.
Part of what has made immigration debate so contentious in the current political climate is the fact that the majority of Americans are of an immigration background.
Unless a person is 100% Native American, everyone who lives in the US is either an immigrant, or a child, grandchild, or great-grandchild, etc. of immigrants.
Some sought a better life in a new country; some fled war or disease; and many made a lasting impact on the US.
Here are 9 children of immigrants who fundamentally changed the US and made the world a better place in doing so:
1. The Founders of YouTube
Two of YouTube’s three founders are the children of immigrants.
Steve Chen was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the US at the age of 15. Jawed Karim was born in East Germany. He crossed the Berlin Wall with his family and eventually immigrated to the US as a teenager after meeting Chen while working at PayPal. Along with US native Chad Hurley, the three young men founded YouTube in 2015, creating a platform for videos that millions use every day.