Many Speak as One: Our Economy Needs Immigration Reform Now

When an array of voices unites to carry a single, simple message, there is added strength in the numbers.  Today, that strength is on full display as more than 400 leading American businesses and advocacy organizations from across the U.S. economic spectrum are calling on the House of Representatives to enact immigration reform.  

 

 

In a letter to Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi, we are making our position on immigration reform clear:  if the United States is to reach our full economic growth and job-creating potential – if we are going to give businesses access to the talent and manpower needed to be more competitive and innovative – then we must reform our broken, outdated immigration system.  Each day that goes by without action by Congress to reform immigration is a day when investments, jobs, and opportunities are denied to American citizens, American businesses, and the American economy.    

Here’s some of the letter:

 

We deal with an immigration system that is now in its third decade and completely incapable of being responsive to an ever-changing national economy and hypercompetitive global marketplace.  Today, the problems with our immigration system have grown and multiplied to become an emerging threat to the current and future productivity, ingenuity, and competitiveness of key sectors of our economy, including agriculture, housing, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, tourism, engineering, and technology.

We are united in the belief that we can and must do better for our economy and country by modernizing our immigration system.  We already have been engaged with many members of Congress -- Republicans and Democrats -- on numerous components of a modern immigration system, and we urge that you not let this momentum slip and progress vanish.

Failure to act is not an option.  We can’t afford to be content and watch a generation-old immigration system work more and more against our overall national interest.   Instead, we urge Congress to remain mindful of the clear benefits to our economy if we succeed, and work together and with us to achieve real, pro-growth immigration reform.

 

Members of Congress will be back in their home states for much of August, and that provides many businesses and citizens the opportunity to speak with them and relay one simple message:  Immigration reform matters.  We cannot afford to lose the momentum in support of immigration reform that’s been building these past months.  That’s one reason we are sending the coalition letter today, before lawmakers leave Washington.  We want to reinforce the imperative of immigration reform for the farmers, retailers, manufacturers, researchers, innovators, and so many others in our economy.

This is the best opportunity in a generation to advance immigration reform.  We can’t afford to miss this opportunity to shape a stronger American future.

Public Policy Tags: Immigration

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