The American Business Immigration Coalition is a Ford Foundation grantee supporting legal pathways for a thriving immigrant workforce, and was recently featured in the Ford Foundation’s online report Immigrant Talent Powers the American Economy. Our CEO Rebecca Shi was quoted, and the report describes how our membership includes “manufacturers, ranchers, nursing home owners, and general contractors across states, all united in the belief that businesses have a responsibility to support immigrant workers.”
“It’s not easy waking up at 3 a.m. every day and milking a 1,500-pound animal,” said Rebecca Shi, CEO of ABIC. “It’s not easy to fix shingles on a roof in 110 degree heat with our climate getting hotter year after year. We have found that even when employers post wages that are three times higher than the local minimum wage, there aren’t many American-born workers waiting in line to perform this labor. Those who remain in these jobs are almost always immigrants.”
This piece reflects what we at the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC) have seen firsthand: immigrant workers are not only essential to our businesses and communities—they are helping build, feed, care for, and power America every day. We are grateful to the businesses and employers who opened their doors and shared their experiences, to the chefs who spoke honestly about the immigrant talent that makes their restaurants thrive, and to the Ford Foundation for its unwavering support and partnership in elevating these stories. We invite you to read the full story and meet some of the people who remind us why protecting and expanding opportunity for immigrant workers is so important to the future of our economy and country.