Congress Urged to Tackle Immigration Reform Before Midterms

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan coalition of business and other organizations, calling themselves The Alliance for New Immigration Consensus is urging Congress to advance immigration reform legislation before the 2022 midterms.

In a letter to the leaders of both chambers of Congress, the coalition calls on lawmakers to eliminate the uncertainty that dominates the everyday lives of undocumented immigrants, find ways to manage and secure the southern border of the United States in an orderly and humane manner and to remove workforce limitations on the agricultural sector that it contends are contributing to supply chain disruptions and raising consumer prices.

“There are 4.75 million more open jobs today than there are people looking for work. One reason for the shortfall is decreased legal immigration. It is past time for Congress to act to modernize our broken immigration system,” said Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a coalition member.

“As a result of COVID and other policy changes, there are 1 million fewer college educated immigrants in the United States today. We can’t get inflation under control, unclog our supply chains, or fully grow our economy and remain competitive unless we welcome more people into our country to fill these jobs,” Bradley said.

Jon Baselice, vice president of immigration policy at the Chamber of Commerce agreed, adding “elected officials cannot continue to forgo opportunities to fix our nation’s broken immigration system.”

“We believe that elected officials can reach a strong bipartisan consensus on providing permanent legal protections to Dreamers, addressing America’s agricultural labor shortage, and strengthening our nation’s border security efforts. The Chamber [of Commerce] is happy to work side-by-side with our friends in the faith, education and advocacy communities to make these long-overdue reforms a reality,” Baselice said.

Other members of the alliance include the Americans for Prosperity, Business Roundtable, Bipartisan Policy Center Action, LIBRE Initiative, National Association of Manufacturers, Stand Together, National Immigration Forum, World Relief, Niskanen Center and National Association of Evangelicals.

Recent polling by the LIBRE Initiative found that 93% of voters agree that immigration reforms are necessary and urgent, while a strong majority of voters also want change to occur before the 2022 midterm elections. 

More than eight in 10 voters support solutions that strengthen border security, create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers — who came to the United States as children — and ensure a legal, reliable workforce for America’s farmers and ranchers, the alliance said in a press release.

A copy of the letter can be found here.

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