“The Senate Parliamentarian should not have the last word. It is immoral to keep good, decent families in fear and anxiety of being separated when you, as our elected leaders, have the power to fix it.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the American Business Immigration Coalition delivered a letter (full text below) to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, signed by 19 North Carolina CEOs, business owners and entrepreneurs,calling attention to North Carolina’s exceptional reliance on immigrants and pushing for inclusion of immigration provisions in the reconciliation bill.
As North Carolina reels from labor shortages in key areas like healthcare and construction, the proposal that has passed the House and is awaiting Senate consideration would allow an estimated seven million people – including millions of Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status holders and essential workers – to apply for temporary work authorizations and protections from deportation to ease the labor shortage. While that is a helpful step, a permanent solution, including a pathway to citizenship, is necessary to address our labor shortage and provide the stability our employers and communities need.
“The U.S. economy has 10.4 million jobs open and employers, like many of us, are looking high and low for qualified workers. Including pathways to citizenship in the Build Back Better agenda will help ease our labor shortage,” the letter stated.
The Senate currently awaits a decision from its Parliamentarian on whether the most recent iteration of immigration reform can be included in the budget reconciliation legislation, but the letter’s authors insist that action be taken regardless of her decision.
“Given how much legalization and citizenship would help our economy, address our labor shortage, add to tax revenues, and so many other positive impacts, the Senate Parliamentarian should not have the last word. It is immoral to keep good, decent families in fear and anxiety of being separated when you, as our elected leaders, have the power to fix it,” the letter stated.
The letter also elaborated on the important role undocumented immigrants play in North Carolina’s economy. “Our state is home to 865,000 immigrants, including 309,000 undocumented immigrants. They are already here, work hard, pay taxes, and contribute to North Carolina’s economy. The household income of undocumented immigrants in our state is $6.6 billion, they have a total spending power of $5.9 billion, and pay $721.9 million in taxes each year. They are North Carolinians and Americans in every way, except for paperwork,” the letter stated.
The letter’s signatories include:
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Gris Bailey, President & CEO, Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Charlotte
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Martin Eakes, President & CEO, Self-Help Services Corp.
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Bob Page, Founder & CEO, Replacements, Ltd.
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Leah Ashburn, President & CEO, Highland Brewing Company
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Rodney Moore, President & CEO, Moore Consulting Group LLC
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Virgilio Briones, CFO, Color Superfoods
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Emiliano Gonzalez Portino, Co-founder, The Brand Building Shop
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Isabela Lujan, Co-founder Latin American Business Council – Wilmington Chamber of Commerce
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Lidia Meneses Martinez, Owner, Nuestro Porvenir, LLC
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Johanna Suarez, Owner, Reliable Restorations
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Stella Adams, Owner, S J Adams Consulting
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Obed Guzman, Owner, Alma HVAC Inc
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Saul Flores Lazo, Owner, Sausam LLC
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Cavin Fertil, Owner, The Speech Mechanic, PLLC
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Aida Bertsch, Self-employed Gerontologist
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Brajan Funes, Financial Advisor, Dixon & Company Wealth Management
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Jenn Harrison, Administrator, NoDa Brewing Company
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Karen Johnson, Analyst, Verge Innovation
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Alex Salguedo, Consultant, Ernst & Young
FULL LETTER:
Dear Leader Schumer and Senator Durbin:
As business and civic leaders in North Carolina, we write to urge you to do everything in your power to include pathways to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, farmworkers, and essential workers in President Biden’s Build Back Better plan. As long time champions of common sense immigration reform, you know this action is urgently needed to boost the economy and address America’s labor shortage, and it is morally right and politically smart.
Legalization and citizenship will grow our Gross Domestic Product, accelerate job growth, and raise the wage floor for all North Carolinians and Americans. Pathways to citizenship will increase economic activity by $121 billion annually, including an additional $31 billion per year in federal, state, and local tax revenues, according to one study. A dozen states would see multi-billion dollar increases to their economies, including a boost of $3 billion per year for North Carolina’s economy.
Our state is home to 865,000 immigrants, including 309,000 undocumented immigrants. They are already here, work hard, pay taxes, and contribute to North Carolina’s economy. The household income of undocumented immigrants in our state is $6.6 billion, they have a total spending power of $5.9 billion, and pay $721.9 million in taxes each year. They are North Carolinians and Americans in every way, except for paperwork.
North Carolina has been welcoming immigrants from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world for generations. More than one million North Carolinians are Latino, now the fastest growing ethnic group. Nationwide, Latinos accounted for nearly 80 percent of all net new businesses created in the last decade and if U.S. Latinos were a stand- alone country, they would account for the 8th largest GDP in the world. Latinos are an unprecedented economic force, which will be further unleashed through legalization and citizenship, to the benefit of all North Carolinians and Americans.
Now is the perfect time to provide pathways to citizenship. The U.S. economy has 10.4 million jobs open and employers, like many of us, are looking high and low for qualified workers. Including pathways to citizenship in the Build Back Better agenda will help ease our labor shortage.
Immigration solutions are widely popular. A recent bipartisan poll of voters in battleground states, including North Carolina, found 3-to-1 support for providing pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the budget reconciliation bill. This poll, commissioned by the American Business Immigration Coalition, found widespread support for legalization and citizenship across the political spectrum, including among majorities of Trump voters and self-described conservatives.
Given how much legalization and citizenship would help our economy, address our labor shortage, add to tax revenues, and so many other positive impacts, the Senate Parliamentarian should not have the last word. It is immoral to keep good, decent families in fear and anxiety of being separated when you, as our elected leaders, have the power to fix it.
It has been 35 years since Congress last modernized our immigration laws. Immigrant workers and families, and the people who care about them, have waited too long. The time for immigration reform is now, the benefits are clear, the legislative vehicle is before you, and there is widespread bipartisan public support for action. Please do not allow this opportunity to slip away.
We stand ready to answer your questions and work with you to pass these long overdue immigration solutions. Thank you for considering the views of North Carolina’s business and civic leaders.