Skip to main content
Know This Now

Know This Now, July 18, 2025: ABIC Action Releases New Letter with More than 200 Employers and Small Businesses to President Trump and Congress

By July 18, 2025July 24th, 2025No Comments

ABIC Action Releases New Letter with More than 200 Employers and Small Businesses to President Trump and Congress

More than 200 businesses sent a letter to President Trump and Congress Tuesday, encouraging him to prioritize commonsense immigration solutions to Secure America’s Workforce including the bipartisan Dignity Act and Farm Workforce Modernization Act, writing:

Mr. President – you have secured our border. Now, we are here to support your vision to secure our workforce with your work permit program.

ABIC Action, restaurant owners, farmers, construction companies and healthcare providers also urged the passage of the newly-introduced Dignity Act in a news conference Wednesday. The Dignity Act was introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) and Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) alongside 20 colleagues from both sides of the aisle earlier this week. You can watch the full ABIC Action press conference here:

“The Dignity Act mirrors what President Trump has said multiple times about work permits for long-term, law-abiding immigrants. This bill offers a real solution backing the President’s vision, and the American people — 76 percent in recent polls — are on board. Let’s get it done.”
-Rebecca Shi, CEO of ABIC Action

Watch Janille Baker, of Baker Ranches in Nevada, who said she is encouraged by the introduction of the Dignity Act and President Trump’s recent comments on work permits. About 50% of her ranches’ workers are foreign-born, and interest from U.S. workers is low due to the hard labor:


Watch more highlighted comments from our press conference guests:

“Our workers…they just have this heart and they don’t give up.”


More on the Dignity Act: Work Authorization, Not Amnesty

The Dignity Act, a bipartisan immigration reform bill introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) and Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) Tuesday with support from 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats, offers a path to legal status and work permits while strengthening border security. Some of the key provisions of the bill include:

  • Border Security: Invests in border infrastructure and management
  • Work Authorization: A 7-year earned legal status program allowing undocumented immigrants to live and work legally, renewable based on status
  • Dreamer Protections: Grants legal status and a path to citizenship
  • Mandatory E-Verify: Mandates employment verifiability of new hires   and protects American jobs
  • Asylum Reform: Reforms screenings and establishes regional processing centers

    Watch Rep. Salazar describe the bill on Meet the Press:

Take Action with ABIC

Join 200+ other business leaders and employers and sign onto the letter to President Trump calling for commonsense immigration solutions to Secure America’s Workforce:

Sign the Letter

Secure America’s Workforce: D.C. Summit | Oct. 21–23, 2025

Registration is open for ABIC’s biggest fly-in yet — and we want you with us in Washington, D.C.

This October, join business leaders, advocates, and coalition partners from across the country to:

  • Speak directly with lawmakers about real workforce challenges
  • Champion commonsense, bipartisan immigration solutions
  • Stand united with leaders from agriculture, construction, hospitality, healthcare, and more

Already registered? Help us build momentum,  forward this invite to your network.

Register now or share the link: RSVP Here

News Briefing:

WSJ: Some Republican Lawmakers Pushing to Protect Unauthorized Immigrant Workers

President Trump’s border control and aggressive deportation policies are creating a new GOP-led policy push in Congress for immigration changes to help protect the workforce in the agriculture industry, which relies heavily on unauthorized laborers.


“The excuse [for] not taking steps to pass measures ensuring certainty and availability of workforce has been that the border hasn’t been under control. That excuse is gone,” -Rep. GT Thompson (R-PA), Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture


Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Support Immigration



A record-high 79% of Americans say immigration is good for the country, a positive sentiment that jumped 23% since 2024 polling, according to Gallup.

The hike in approval of immigration is largely due to an upswing in Republicans’ views — 64% of Republicans said immigration was beneficial to the country, jumping from 39% last year. The number of Americans who want immigration reduced dropped sharply from 55% to 30% since last year’s poll.

WaPo: Horse Racing Depends On Immigrants Who Are Suddenly Working In Fear

ABIC’s work with equine industry leaders, including our press event in June with U.S. Rep. Andy Harris and our press conference at the Kentucky Derby was featured in the Washington Post sports section this week.  The U.S. horse racing industry is in crisis as fear of aggressive immigration raid sparalyzes the immigrant laborers, mostly from Mexico and Central America, who care for racehorses.


“One thing people in this country don’t understand is many of these people wouldn’t be here if they could feed their families where they’re from.”

Dale Romans

President, Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association

“I don’t know how horse racing could survive,” without immigrant workers Romans said.

“The backbone of the industry,” said Eric Hamelback, the CEO of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.

Nursing Homes Struggle with Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
Nursing homes, already facing staffing shortages, are being hit hard by President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Facilities report losing workers whose legal status has been revoked and fear worsening shortages as legal immigration slows, cutting off a key source of reliable employees.

More than 1 million of an estimated 4 million nursing assistants, home health aides, personal care aides and other so-called direct care workers are foreign born, according to PHI, a nonprofit focused on the caregiving workforce.


“This is just like a punch in the gut,” for care facilities around the country struggling with staffing. -Katie Smith Sloan
CEO of LeadingAge

Land O’Lakes CEO: Without Immigration Reform, Nation’s Food System Will Break


Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford warns of dire consequences if U.S. immigration gridlock continues. Ford said there is an urgent need for predictable labor policies to protect food security and rural communities, and she hopes President Trump will help make that happen.

“We’re short farm workers, and I think the president has recognized this, has said he wants to work on solutions..I’m grateful for his support of farmers.” -Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford

“For a dairy producer, if they lose their staff, I mean, that’s a black swan event. There’s not much you can do…It’s not as though producers haven’t been out trying to hire Americans. Americans don’t want these jobs,” Ford said.

Head of Texas Restaurant Association Encouraged by President Trump’s Recent Comments
ABIC member Emily Knight, President of the Texas Restaurant Association, said in an interview she isn’t disappointed by the president’s shifting stance on immigration, seeing it instead as a sign of pragmatism balancing border security with the need to avoid higher food prices and business closures. She’s been heartened by her work with ABIC and other business leaders as well.

“I partner directly now with the American Business Immigration Coalition…It’s been a beautiful, beautiful thing to see all these different industries come together to say, listen, this is a really critical part of the US economy.”
Emily Knight, President of the Texas Restaurant Association

South Dakota Ag Leaders Question Push to Target Farm Workers
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said in early July mass deportations will include farm workers, aiming for a fully American workforce. She suggested Medicaid recipients could fill the labor gap, but South Dakota ag leaders question if it’s feasible.

“It’s unrealistic..if anybody thinks that that’s the case, that we’re going to put these recipients of SNAP and Medicaid into the workforce, let’s be real. Especially in South Dakota, that just isn’t the case. We are not going to make that happen…It’s going to be devastation,” said Doug Sombke, President of the South Dakota Farmers Union.

Newsweek: Mass Deportations Are Killing Small Businesses, Owners Say
Newsweek spoke with several business owners in the construction industry who are struggling with worker shortages and being forced to hire inexperienced workers because their skilled workers are living in fear.

“Small business owners like me are losing money because of the new immigration policy. I don’t think policymakers in Washington understand how badly they are hurting us. We need each other for a healthy economy,” said David Rebolloso, owner of a construction cleaning business in Texas.


Op-Ed: Immigration Whiplash Is Hurting American Businesses During A Labor Crisis

Misty Chally, Executive Director of the Critical Labor Coalition, wrote in the Hill: “Businesses are not asking for amnesty. They are asking for predictability. They are asking for a system that allows them to hire legally and maintain continuity in their operations without living in fear that tomorrow’s policy memo will upend their workforce.”

By the Numbers: Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes


Enforcement News

Watch: Farmworker Dies From Injuries in Major ICE Raid at California Farm

Federal agents arrested over 360 people in large-scale raids at two Southern California marijuana farms—one of the biggest immigration enforcement actions since Trump took office.

Get Involved

  1. Secure your spot today for ABIC’s Secure America’s Workforce — October Fly-In and Policy Summit in Washington, DC. Register here.
  2. Join one of ABIC’s Councils of 100 and let your voice be heard with your peers – sign up here. The Council of 100 is a coalition of top business leaders working to advance common-sense workforce solutions.
  3. Share your story: If your business is interested in engaging with the press as part of ABIC or amplifying your story on social media, take this quick survey to let us know your preferences. 
  4. We’re hiring! ABIC is looking for a new Field Director to help lead our national campaigns. Learn more and apply here.

Key Employer Resources:

ABIC in the news. . . 

View all recent coverage here