March 22, 2007

EWIC APPLAUDS BI-PARTISAN EFFORT ON COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

While concerns remain, the STRIVE ACT addresses the major elements needed by the business community.  The Essential Worker Immigration Coalition (EWIC) applauds the introduction today by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., of bipartisan legislation, Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act, to comprehensively address the nation's badly dysfunctional immigration system.  This legislation has been co-sponsored by many of both sides of the aisle.

"The STRIVE ACT addresses all the major elements needed by the business community in reform:  a realistic path for the economy to get the future workers needed from abroad when US workers are unavailable, a mechanism for the undocumented to earn legal status after paying a penalty, and a new employment verification system," said EWIC Co-Chair and Partner at Greenberg Traurig, Laura Reiff.

"While encouraging work continues in the Senate," said John Gay, EWIC Co-Chair and Senior Vice-President of Government Affairs and Public Policy of the National Restaurant Association, "this bill launches the immigration debate in Congress.  There is plenty of time to complete work this year and EWIC will help in any way we can."

"We will need to fully review the details of this lengthy and complex legislation, but it is clear that this bill gets many of the major issues right.  For example, the bill does not repeat the worst mistake of the 1986 immigration act.  Rather, this bill recognizes the future needs for workers with a realistic starting number of visas for new workers and a mechanism for that number to rise or fall with economic need," said Randel Johnson, EWIC Co-Chair, Vice President of Labor, Immigration and Employee Benefits, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Essential Worker Immigrant Coalition (EWIC) is a broad-based coalition of national businesses and trade associations from across the industry spectrum concerned with the shortage of both semi-skilled and unskilled ("essential worker") labor.  EWIC supports policies that facilitate the employment of essential workers by U.S. companies that are unable to find American workers (www.ewic.org).  For more information, contact EWIC Co-chairs John Gay at (202) 331-5912, Laura Reiff at (703) 749-1372 or Randy Johnson at (202) 463-5448.