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Actor and director Diego Luna says its ridiculous that immigration reform hasnt happened in the U.S. and that the work of labor leader Cesar Chavez the subject of Lunas latest film can help draw attention to the issue.

It makes no sense that this country has 11 million workers feeding, building this country, making America what it is and they dont share the same rights of those who are consuming the fruit of their labor, Luna said Tuesday at the D.C. premiere of his film Cesar Chavez, a film he directed. It makes no sense and I hope it happens. I dont see why there should even be a debate.

Its ridiculous that it hasnt happened, Luna added.

The film, which had its D.C. premiere Tuesday at the Newseum at an event co-hosted by Voto Latino and is scheduled to be screened at the White House on Wednesday, depicts the efforts of Chavez, played by Michael Pea, during the late 1960s to organize farm workers and lead a strike to seek higher pay. Luna said that movement sounded way more difficult to achieve than what it would take to pass immigration reform. He said as many as 80 percent of the workers in the fields are undocumented and that if his film can draw attention to that community, then we are talking about the necessity of immigration reform.

I do believe that if reform does not come soon, were going to regret it, he added.

Echoing Luna, was actress America Ferrera, who portrays Chavezs wife Helen in the film and who has been a vocal proponent of immigration reform herself.

Ferrera said the issue of immigration reform is still a battle, but that like Chavez connecting the farm workers struggle, it is an issue that has extends beyond the Latino community.

We need to a better job of telling that story about how the issue affects every single American, Ferrera said.

The role and importance of women in politics is also illustrated in the film, says actress Rosario Dawson, who portrays Dolores Huerta, the co-founder alongside Chavez of what is now known as the United Farm Workers.

Dawson said more youth and women need to mobilize and feel that they are a part of that conversation by looking at candidates like Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Wendy Davis.

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'Chavez' stars spotlight immigration

Compete America, a lobbying group that counts Microsoft, Intel and Google among its members, launched an online clock Wednesday that keeps count of its estimate of jobs lost due to immigration policy.

The Washington, D.C. lobbying group says restrictions on H-1B skilled visas translate into U.S. job lossesbetween the immigrants who arent permitted to the U.S. to fill open jobs, plus the potential resulting jobs.

Compete America Executive Director Scott Corley says the clock counts from a start date of April 1, 2013. April 1 is the day U.S. Customs begins to accept H-1B visa applications for the coming year. Inspired by the U.S. national debt clock, Corley says the Compete America clock is updated every 43 seconds to indicate that another job has been lost.

Corley and Dartmouth Tuck School of Business economist Dr. Matthew Slaughter, who designed the job loss clock, estimates that the U.S. loses out on approximately 500,000 jobs each year because of the cap on H-1B visas. Currently, only 85,000 H-1B visas are approved each year. From there, Dr. Slaughter says he uses a multiplier of four, which represents the number of jobs that he predicts would be created to support each H-1B worker.

This is based on existing research H-1B jobs tend to create a multiplier, both for the companies that hire these workers and for the suppliers in the supply chain, says Dr. Slaughter.

But Federation for American Immigration Reform Media Director Ira Mehlman says its not the governments role to be a personnel service for companies.

There are a lot of qualified engineers with STEM degrees in this company who are available for those jobs. Theyre just not the foreign workers that these companies prefer, says Mehlman.

He says these companies who say theyre unable to fill their open spots with domestic workers just arent trying hard enough.

If somebody doesnt meet 100% of the requirements, but they meet 95%, it should be the obligation of the employer to work on the other 5%, says Mehlman.

Corley says the theatrical element was strategic, as the group is looking for attention on the growing debate.

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Immigration Reform Group Launches 'Job Loss' Clock

Cambodian rights workers are calling on the government to reform its immigration policies following the mob beating death of a Vietnamese man. Activists say the death of Nguyen Van Chyen, who was killed in Phnom Penh following a traffic accident last month, underscores an underlying problem of racism in Cambodia. Some analysts say immigration reform could help reduce tensions and dampen anti-Vietnamese sentiment. Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor for the rights group Licado, told VOA's Khmer service he agrees that better immigration enforcement is key. In order to prevent problems, I think Cambodia has to strengthen law enforcement, especially in immigration law and laws on nationality, he said. "In order to be naturalized as a Cambodian, a foreigner should be required to learn the Khmer language and understand Cambodias culture." Chea Vannath, an independent analyst, told the Khmer service that the enforcement of immigration will reduce the problems. So, until Cambodia takes the actions, then we can control the people feeling," she said. "Meaning that [immigrants] come, no matter what nationality, they live in Cambodia legally." One point of contention is the use of the Khmer word "yuon," which the crowd shouted ahead of Nguyen Van Chyen's beating death. Am Sam Ath said the word is customary, though not necessarily racist. Not everyone agrees, with many saying the word is a slur for Vietnamese people. The distinction is important, said Keat Chantharith, a spokesman for the national police and a ruling party supporter, because the word is used by leaders of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. He accuses Sam Rainsy's party of using the word to stoke anti-Vietnamese sentiment for political gain. In fact, immigration police and the national police are trying hard to fulfill their work in immigration, he said. They have pushed law enforcement, registration work and management work for immigrants. Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Rescue Party, denies the allegations, saying the opposition is merely pushing for better immigration enforcement and does not endorse violence. The CPP has not taken action on the issues and has been indulgent, he said. Vietnamese troops ousted the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and began a decade-long occupation of the country. There have been sporadic reports of violence against Vietnamese in Cambodia in the past two decades. This report was produced in collaboration with the VOA Khmer service.

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In Cambodia, Immigrant's Death Sparks Reform Debate

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