Mediaboss Marketing

For Release: May 9, 2014 Contact: Judy Kent at (703) 759-7476 or [emailprotected] or David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or (703) 568-4727 (text enabled) or [emailprotected]

Marriott Chairman J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr. Ducks Key Question on Immigration at Company Shareholder Meeting

Declines to Explain Why Big Companies Supporting "Path to Citizenship" Don't Lobby to Secure Southern Border First to Help Build Public Support for the Immigration Law Changes Big Business Wants

Washington, D.C. - Today, at Marriott International's shareholder meeting in Washington, D.C., Justin Danhof, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project, asked Executive Chairman J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr. about the company's push for immigration reform.

Danhof, in his question, noted that 57 percent of the U.S. public supports the border fence and 69 percent supports using the U.S. military to keep Mexican drug violence out of the U.S. There is strong support for border security, and strengthening border security would increase public support for legalization of illegal immigrations already here. Therefore, given that the company has pushed for immigration reform for years without success, why does it not push for completing the fence and then push for legalization, as doing the former would make the public more agreeable to the latter?

"In his response, Mr. Marriott started by explaining that Marriott does very much support the idea of border security but, at the same time, he explained that many of the company's employees that are here legally and work using green cards deserve a path to citizenship, said Danhof. "That was really the entire crux of his answer. He did not say a word directed at the central point of my question, which was, 'why doesn't the company publicly support building a border fence and then engage in comprehensive immigration reform?' It was as if I hadn't asked that."

"The company's position is clearly to continue to push for legal status and border security at the same time," Danhof continued. "As I plainly articulated, this approach has failed in the past and could also fail going forward. Either way, it is a method that does not have the broad backing of the American public, and the company is risking its strong reputation with this approach."

"It is incomprehensible that a business such as Marriott that is heavily involved in the immigration debate cannot answer a simple question: why not build a secure border fence first, and then engage in the other dynamics of reform? If Marriott were to publicly endorse this approach, the company would align itself with a large block of the American public that is genuinely concerned about border security and continued illegal immigration from Mexico," continued Danhof.

Continue reading here:
Marriott Chairman Ducks Immigration Question at Shareholder Meeting