It’s been an exciting week here at the Fueled Collective, but the most exciting thing of all was Congressman Jerrold “Jerry” Nadler's visit on Wednesday. He came to the Collective workspace to have a roundtable discussion about the many problems faced by working immigrants in the tech industry. Nadler represents the Tenth Congressional District of New York, which includes much of the West Side of Manhattan, the Financial District and a number of diverse neighborhoods in southwestern Brooklyn. He also serves on the Judiciary and Transportation & Infrastructure committees.

Many attended, spanning a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds, to have an open dialogue with the Congressman. Thrillist CTO Mark O'Neill and Fueled Founder and CEO Rameet Chawla were both in attendance, as well as interns and aspiring entrepreneurs alike. The discussion was informal and circulated the room so everyone had a chance to share their personal experiences, hurdles, and opinions on how to improve the way things work. In the end, everyone was in agreement that there is a lot of room for improvement in the current immigration and work visa system.

We here at Fueled hope this will have a positive impact on not just the tech industry, but also our local community. We want to thank FWD.us, for assembling this event, and for dedicating their efforts to bringing the tech community together in support of policies that keep the American Dream achievable in the 21st century. And, of course, many thanks to Congressman Nadler for stopping by and giving us the opportunity to speak to him. We hope he returns for another visit to the Fueled Collective in the near future.