A Defining Moment: Immigration Reform in 2014

At the core of human motivation is the idea that tomorrow can be better than today. That together, through hard work and dedication, we can create a future more promising than our past. It is a simple idea, but an idea nonetheless that has shaped the contours of this great country. Important junctures in America’s history have tested its resolve to ensure that such hope is not lost to competing self-interest. As we heard during the State of the Union, both the president and the House Republican Leadership recognize that we again face a once-in-a-generation opportunity to instill hope and improve the future for millions of individuals through immigration reform that will preserve the United States as a beacon for legal immigrants around the world.

As the leader of a global business group I have seen on multiple occasions how America has showered opportunity and hope on many within our group (and my family) who have come from an immigrant background. America has revolutionized their lives in ways they never could have dreamed.

My heritage is Greek, my education is British and my spirit is American. I am now a proud resident of the United States, and my story is possible only because wise souls in the past recognized that empowerment trumps dejection, and that opportunity should be based on potential and not experience alone.

It began for me at the age of 19 when I took the helm of my family’s shipping business. Today our group controls 30 subsidiaries operating across five continents and is predominantly focused on five core sectors: shipping, aviation, real estate, hospitality and energy. It was the freedom of movement of people and ideas that in a large part allowed this group to be built.

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