To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Small Business: Support Immigration Reform
Small Business Majority
Small business owners need and support comprehensive immigration reform.
Why is this important?
The economy is recovering, but as a small business owner I still struggle to turn a profit, make payroll and stay in business. As a lawmaker, I look to you to create smart public policies that make it easier to keep my coffers full and my doors open. Comprehensive immigration reform would do just that.
Our immigration system is broken. We do not foster an environment that allows small businesses to benefit from the services of high or low-skilled workers. On a regular basis we educate talented foreign students and then send them away, instead of creating a system that allows them to stay in this country and make meaningful, even groundbreaking contributions to our economy. A recent poll by Small Business Majority found two-thirds of small business owners also believe we should allow more low-skilled foreign workers who might work in the agriculture, restaurant or service industries into this country legally. A strong economy needs workers of all skill levels. Our current immigration system doesn’t meet these needs.
Lawmakers recently introduced legislation that aims to fix many problems associated with immigration. These policies would be good for small businesses like mine. Small Business Majority also found 87% of entrepreneurs support requiring immigrants in the country illegally who have no criminal record to register for legal status, pass a background check, learn English, pay a fine and pay taxes. Three-quarters believe we would be better off if people who are in the country illegally became legal taxpayers, so they pay their fair share and can work toward citizenship in the future. And 75% support revamping the guest worker system to create a new worker visa, eventually letting immigrants move beyond temporary status and switch employers to protect themselves against unscrupulous ones.
I’m a small business owner and I support these reforms, too. Fixing our broken system will help us more easily tap into the immigrant labor workforce, make our existing workforces more stable, make us more competitive and help aspiring immigrants become entrepreneurs.
Please help small business owners like me by supporting immigration reform and fixing our system.
Our immigration system is broken. We do not foster an environment that allows small businesses to benefit from the services of high or low-skilled workers. On a regular basis we educate talented foreign students and then send them away, instead of creating a system that allows them to stay in this country and make meaningful, even groundbreaking contributions to our economy. A recent poll by Small Business Majority found two-thirds of small business owners also believe we should allow more low-skilled foreign workers who might work in the agriculture, restaurant or service industries into this country legally. A strong economy needs workers of all skill levels. Our current immigration system doesn’t meet these needs.
Lawmakers recently introduced legislation that aims to fix many problems associated with immigration. These policies would be good for small businesses like mine. Small Business Majority also found 87% of entrepreneurs support requiring immigrants in the country illegally who have no criminal record to register for legal status, pass a background check, learn English, pay a fine and pay taxes. Three-quarters believe we would be better off if people who are in the country illegally became legal taxpayers, so they pay their fair share and can work toward citizenship in the future. And 75% support revamping the guest worker system to create a new worker visa, eventually letting immigrants move beyond temporary status and switch employers to protect themselves against unscrupulous ones.
I’m a small business owner and I support these reforms, too. Fixing our broken system will help us more easily tap into the immigrant labor workforce, make our existing workforces more stable, make us more competitive and help aspiring immigrants become entrepreneurs.
Please help small business owners like me by supporting immigration reform and fixing our system.