US firms encouraged by bipartisan immigration reform

From agricultural firms to high-tech companies, US employers are eager to see the broken immigration system fixed. But without details fixed, firms are cautious with support. 

|
Alan Diaz/AP
Rep. Joe Garcia (D) of Florida states his support for immigrants and pledges to work in favor of immigration reform in downtown Miami, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. A broad slate of US companies are also encouraged by a bipartisan plan in Congress that would reform the immigration system.

The first big political push for an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in more than five years holds out some promise for employers who have long complained that the current system is broken and inhibits hiring.

From farmers who cannot find Americans to pick their crops to technology firms who need more engineers from abroad, the bipartisan plan from eight U.S. senators announced on Monday offered solutions like a "workable" program for seasonal farm labor and a commitment to "attracting and keeping the world's best and brightest."

"We are encouraged by the momentum on these important issues," said Microsoft general counsel and executive vice president Brad Smith.

Companies and business groups of all stripes have come out in favor of immigration reform, hoping to tap the immigrant labor force that has long been a key to growth of the U.S. economy.

But Smith said Microsoft needs to see the details of the legislation, which has not yet been crafted, and that it hopes the reform will expand the so-called H-1B visa system for highly skilled workers.

The government now offers a quota of 65,000 H-1B visas per year, a number unusually met in a few weeks of applications and far fewer than the U.S. technology sector says it needs to innovate and remain competitive.

The eight senators said that any immigrant who receives an advanced degree in the United States in science, technology, engineering or math (collectively known as STEM), should be given a green card, shorthand for legal residence and work permit.

"It makes no sense to educate the world's future innovators and entrepreneurs only to ultimately force them to leave our country at the moment they are most able to contribute to our economy," the senators said.

The proposal from the senators, who include Arizona Republican John McCain and New York Democrat Charles Schumer, goes so far as to offer a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. Schumer said he hoped a bill would pass Congress as early as mid-year.

But it also offers provisions to make legal immigration more efficient and to bolster an employment verification system to help companies know if they are hiring illegal migrants.

While the U.S. government's "E-Verify" program is now only required in some states, a mandatory beefed-up system that takes the burden off companies for detecting fraud in identity documents and places it on the government might be welcomed.

A one-step process in which the employer enters data and awaits a government approval "could be a very effective system," said Eleanor Pelta, head of immigration law at the Washington law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

Several high-profile companies, including burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc, have been investigated after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) audits turned up problems with their employment paperwork. ICE started investigations at nearly 4,000 workplaces in fiscal 2012.

Chipotle moved to E-Verify almost two years ago after ICE audits revealed it had hired hundreds of illegal immigrants. Company spokesman Chris Arnold said that mandating a similar system would be "pretty much moot" for the 1,300-restaurant company.

While passage of the proposal into law is far from assured, farm organizations may have most reason to be encouraged, given its emphasis on meeting the needs of the agriculture industry.

"I see this absolutely as our best opportunity that we've had in a generation to get ... a solution to our immigration problems," said Charles Conner, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

In the nation's largest food-producing and exporting state, California, farmers said they hoped immigration legislation would catch up to the reality of America's food supply.

"Many of the people who tend to the food we eat are not properly documented," said Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to US firms encouraged by bipartisan immigration reform
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0128/US-firms-encouraged-by-bipartisan-immigration-reform
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe