Latino Business Leaders Headline Summit Urging Carolinas’ Senators to Pass Bipartisan Immigration Solutions
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA — Latino business, civic and faith leaders from the Carolinas will hold a virtual summit on Wednesday, May 12 AT 10 AM EST to urge North and South Carolina Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Richard Burr (R-NC), Tim Scott (R-SC) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) to pass bipartisan immigration solutions. The event is titled Adelante Carolinas: Latino Businesses for Bipartisan Immigration Solutions – the Dream Act, the SECURE Act, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021, and Essential Workers.
Media is invited to attend the event. To register, click here.
Passing bipartisan immigration solutions including the Dream Act of 2021, the SECURE Act, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act is crucial to helping the region rebuild and recover from the pandemic. Failure to pass these critical reforms will hurt the recovery and small businesses throughout the Carolinas.
The Carolinas are home to 1.1 million immigrants whose work powers key industries including agriculture, construction, manufacturing, tech, hospitality, tourism and healthcare. Immigrants in the Carolinas have a combined spending power of $28.8 billion and contribute $10.3 billion in federal and state taxes. Many of them are Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status holders, farmworkers and essential workers.
Latinos in the Carolinas are one of the fastest growing electoral groups in the country, with a 70 percent increase in voter participation from 2016 to 2020 in North Carolina alone. The New York Times recently reported Senator Thom Tillis is “guardedly optimistic” about the possibility of a successful deal including a path to citizenship for Dreamers.
DETAILS:
WHEN: Wednesday, May 12 AT 10 AM EST
REGISTRATION: bit.ly/ABIC-Carolinas
Speakers include:
- Yahel Flores (moderator), Director of the the Carolinas Chapter of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC)
- Gris Bailey, President and CEO, Latin American Chamber of Commerce Charlotte (LACCC)
- José Hernandez-París, Executive Director, Latin American Coalition
- John Herrera, Vice Chair of the Board, Latino Community Credit Union
- Evelyn Lugo, President, South Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Veronica Calderon, Senior Vice President Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, Truliant Federal Credit Union
- Isabela Luján, Co-Founder, Latin American Business Council
- Pastora Maudia Meléndez, President ,Federation of Christian Churches of North Carolina
- Bert Lemkes, Tri-Hishtil, LLC, Mills River NC
- Jose Oliva, Public. Affairs, Replacements, Ltd.
ABOUT
The Carolinas Chapter of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC) promotes sensible immigration reform that supports the economy of The Carolinas by providing American companies with both the high-skilled and “low-skilled” talent they need, and allow the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, and citizens.