Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella: America's immigration policy is one of our biggest competitive advantages

We sat down with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to talk about how America's immigration policy is actually a major competitive advantage for companies. Nadella is also the author of Hit Refresh. Following is a transcript of the video.

Satya Nadella: One of the things that I always say is, I'm a product of two amazing American things — which is both American technology reaching me where I was growing up and the enlightened immigration policy that allowed me to not only dream the dream but live the dream after coming here. The immigration policy of this country is our competitive advantage. We are able to attract people from all over the world to come contribute to our economy and to our companies. But we also are the beacon of hope for those who need it the most. So I think that America is exceptional in what we have created here and it’s something that we should preserve.

Before we talk about any change to our immigration policy, we should recognize that it is already one of the biggest competitive strengths we have. Where else would a story like mine be possible? Nowhere else. So let's start there. So I'm actually both thankful for the immigration policy and also recognize the exceptional policy that we have. Does it have issues? Of course. DACA is a clear example of it. We have been very clear. I think we should show our humanity. People who are on DACA here are great participants in our economy. In fact, Microsoft has many of them. They are doing a great job in contributing to our economy and we should make sure that we treat that with care.

Join the conversation about this story »