Immigration reform advocates petition Gates Foundation to divest from The GEO Group
From the event press release "Seattle-area residents and organizations will be joined by national Latino organization Presente.org and bi-national prison div...
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Immigration reform advocates petition Gates Foundation to divest from The GEO Group - Video
Jeb Bush considers illegal immigration to be an act of love
Will Jeb Bush be able to sell his agenda on immigration reform to the GOP? CNN #39;s John King and his panel weigh in. This should scare every single conservativ...
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Jeb Bush considers illegal immigration to be an act of love - Video
To address the (manufacturing) workforce shortages, we need to ensure that our companies have the workforce they need in order to stay in business. The most common-sense way to achieve that goal is through immigration reform.
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While Utah may not be widely known as a manufacturing state, that industry is actually one of the backbones of our states economy. The manufacturing sector generates 13 percent of our annual gross domestic product at $14.5 billion. In a United States Chamber of Commerce study of the most enterprising states in the nation, Utah ranks in the top five of every export category and was the only state to rank in the top 10 in every category.
Despite these bright statistics for our business industry, manufacturers nationwide are struggling due to a shrinking workforce, and Utah is not immune to this problem. Though the manufacturing sector pays the second highest average wage statewide, our workforce numbers are dwindling as older generations retire and younger generations increasingly seek jobs requiring advanced degrees.
To address the workforce shortages, we need to ensure that our companies have the workforce they need in order to stay in business. The most common-sense way to achieve that goal is through immigration reform that focuses on the needs of our economy and supports American businesses. That is why I am joining the Partnership for a New American Economy and business owners around the country in the #iBuildImmigration campaign, a month-long push to let Congress know that immigration reform is critical to the success of our nations manufacturing and business industries.
Immigrant workers are already making meaningful contributions to the manufacturing industry. When immigrant workers fill the gaps left by Americans, jobs are created and we are able to keep businesses in the U.S. rather than seeing them move overseas. According to research conducted by the Partnership for a New American Economy, 46 U.S. manufacturing jobs are created or preserved for every 1,000 immigrants who live in a county. Together, the more than 40 million immigrants in America have created or preserved 1.8 million manufacturing jobs nationally. That means immigrants are responsible for more than one in seven manufacturing jobs that exist in the United States today.
Currently, when employers wish to utilize foreign labor to fill their available jobs, they can apply for short-term visas to secure immigrant workers. But this process has proven to be expensive and riddled with restrictions and red tape, such that many employers cannot benefit from the program. By implementing practical immigration reforms that allow employers realistic options to fill and add jobs to their businesses, our state will see a profound economic benefit.
It is time for Congress to pass immigrant reform legislation with a broad scope that addresses security and job creation. Implementing a legal and accessible venue for employers to hire skilled foreign workers would improve national security by allowing border agents to focus on problem individuals and not people simply entering the country for work. Moreover, as our economy recovers, our businesses and entrepreneurs must have the opportunity to grow. It is clear that if approached correctly, immigration reform can have a profoundly positive impact on our economy by adding jobs and revenue and stabilizing our workforce. I am calling on Congress to jump-start our economy by passing immigration reform now.
Todd R. Bingham, is currently president of the Utah Manufacturers Association (UMA). Prior to UMA, he was the president of the Utah Mining Association and previously served as the vice president of public policy for the Utah Farm Bureau Federation.
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My view: Immigration reform just makes sense, its time to get it done
FILE: July 15, 2013: Demonstrators march against amnesty for illegal immigrants at a rally in Washington, D.C.REUTERS
President Obama and House Republicans appear nowhere close to reaching a near-term compromise on immigration reform, following a conversation Wednesday between the president and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Obama, who supports the comprehensive reform legislation passed last summer with bipartisan support in the Democrat-controlled Senate, accused the House Republicans of repeatedly failing to act on such legislation and appearing to prefer the status quo of a broken immigration system over meaningful reform, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the White House before his conversation with Cantor.
The president argued the Senate plan was a common sense agreement that will grow the economy by $1.4 trillion and reduce the federal deficit while providing a tough but fair pathway to citizenship for roughly 11 million illegal immigrants.
House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team have expressed a desire to pass immigration reform but appear uncertain about whether they can get the votes from rank-and-file members, including a conservative wing that considers granting citizenship to those who came illegally to the United States tantamount to amnesty.
In January, Boehner released a broad plan that included a path to legal status for illegal immigrants. However, the apparent lack of support appears to have shelved the issue until at least after the November elections.
The majority of Americans are ahead of House Republicans on this crucial issue and there is broad support for reform, Obama also said, according to the White House statement. I urge House Republicans to listen to the will of the American people and bring immigration reform to the House floor for a vote.
Cantor released his own statement following Wednesday's conversation, in which he said the House will not consider the Senate bill.
The president called me hours after he issued a partisan statement which attacked me and my fellow House Republicans and which indicated no sincere desire to work together, the Virginia Republican said. After five years, President Obama still has not learned how to effectively work with Congress to get things done. You do not attack the very people you hope to engage in a serious dialogue.
Cantor also said he told Obama the same thing he told him the last time they spoke -- that House Republicans support neither amnesty efforts nor the Senate immigration bill.
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Obama, Cantor immigration phone call reveals divide
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- Immigration champion Rep. Luis Gutierrez feels confident that President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to push through reform. House Speaker John Boehner feels confident that doing so will tank what little support the President has among Republicans on immigration reform.
They're both right, immigration law experts say.
After pushback from immigration activists and some members of his party, the President has directed his administration to reexamine its deportation policy.
The administration could shift noncriminals and minor offenders to the lowest deportation priorities.
"I think the President has a difficult decision to make here," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell University Law School. "The courts have upheld wide discretion on immigration matters. He could make noncriminals the lowest deportation priorities. ... But there is a penalty he could pay through using executive action rather than waiting for Congress to act on immigration reform."
That political price, Boehner told Fox News last week, is "that will make it almost impossible to ever do immigration reform, because he will spoil the well to the point where no one will trust him by giving him a new law that he will implement the way the Congress intended."
"The American people want us to deal with immigration reform," Boehner said on Fox News' "Kelly File" during the same interview. "But every time the President ignores the law, like the 38 times he has on Obamacare, our members look up and go, 'Wait a minute: You can't have immigration reform without strong border security and internal enforcement. How can we trust the President to actually obey the law and enforce the law that we would write?'"
Legislation stuck in the House
Last year, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform package -- which includes a citizenship path for an estimated 8 million of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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Should Obama use the power of his pen to push immigration reform?