Reform plans bring worries
Chicken farmer Lucious Adkins doesn’t see how he could stay in business if Congress passes an immigration reform bill that would require his immigrant workers to go home for a year.
“I can’t go six months without growing a chicken. We’ll be out of business when they come back,” said Adkins, who owns one of the biggest chicken farms in Georgia and serves as president of the United Poultry Growers Association.
U.S. businesses reliant on immigrants have long pushed for reforms to address their need for labor, but many at both ends of the spectrum complain that the proposal endorsed by Senate leaders and President Bush would prove too disruptive and make it too hard for them find the workers they need.
Across the country, industries such as carpet manufacturing, farming, poultry processing, meatpacking, construction, restaurants and hotels depend heavily on low- or unskilled illegal immigrants. Technology companies, meanwhile, increasingly look outside the U.S. to find engineers, programmers and other highly skilled workers, who are here legally, mostly on temporary work visas.
Among other things, the legislation would grant legal status to the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the United States, allowing them to seek permanent legal residency or citizenship. They would be subject to a $5,000 fee and fines, and the heads of households would have to return to their country of origin temporarily.
The reforms also call for a guest worker program that would issue some 400,000 visas a year for largely low-skill immigrants seeking employment for two years.
Businesses and trade groups in Las Vegas said they support the concept of a pathway to citizenship, but they expressed worries over the job turnover that could result from the provision requiring immigrants to return to their native country.
Pilar Weiss, political director of Culinary Local 226, called the stipulation impractical.
“If big chunks of the work force have to leave, then there will be a lot of questions from our union and other groups about how realistic that would be and how it would affect the fabric of our community,” Weiss said. “We understand the need for border security and the need for people to pay back taxes and fees, but it has to be realistic. Saying people have to leave the country, get in line and wait for years to return seems unworkable.”
Culinary representatives are also decrying the bill’s focus on skills over family ties. The legislation would direct officials to give out green cards based on an immigrant’s educational level and training, rather than the family ties they now consider.
The measure would break up families and contribute to transience, Weiss said, and the stability of the Las Vegas community would suffer as a result.
Local hotel-casino operators aren’t certain how the bill might affect their businesses.
The Nevada gaming sector dwells in an intensive licensing environment that requires substantial background checks and employee-screening measures, so the industry’s workers are here legally, said Alan Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Mirage.
But Feldman said he’s concerned that a final immigration bill might also order temporary workers who are legally in the United States to return home before they could earn citizenship.
Though the bill’s direct impact on MGM Mirage will “probably be very minimal,” Feldman said the law could have major effects on the hospitality and travel sectors nationwide.
“The potential hurdle of sending people back to their home countries could throw a rather substantial wrench into the operation of any number of different businesses in the tourism industry,” Feldman said. “The truth of the matter is, we all kind of rise and fall together, whether we’re talking about theme parks in Florida, national parks in Colorado or hotels in Las Vegas. The tourism industry really needs to band together on this.”
Many high-tech companies that routinely face shortages of skilled workers said the reform measure could make it tougher to find employees with the specific skills and experience they need in the fast-changing high-tech world.
High-tech companies recruit specific foreigners who possess the precise skills they need. These foreigners are issued what are called H1-B visas.
The reform measure would instead create a point system that rewards people with advanced degrees and special skills. Some high-tech companies complain that this would give them less control over the selection process. They also say that the government needs to make more H1-B visas available to highly educated professionals.
Some businesses are also worried about a provision that would require employers to verify workers’ immigration status using a new computer database.
The National Association of Home Builders, which lobbies on behalf of construction companies, called the measure “unwieldy and unworkable.”
The bill “would do irreparable harm to America’s small businesses, which have generated the lion’s share of new job growth in the economy,” said Jerry Howard, the organization’s executive vice president and chief executive.
Veronica Meter, vice president of government affairs for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, said her trade group opposes plans to transform the business community into an immigration-enforcement mechanism.
“The majority of our members are small businesses, and becoming the policing agency for illegal workers would put an incredible burden on businesses,” Meter said. “Companies do their best to follow the regulations that are in place now, but anything beyond that would be a major burden.”
The chamber won’t have a position on the bill until the organization’s officials see a final version from Congress, Meter said.
The group would support a bill that enhances border security, avoids making companies enforce immigration law and enables companies to hire guest workers for hard-to-fill jobs, Meter said.
The pathway to citizenship at the center of the Senate bill pleases members of the local construction industry.
Steve Holloway, executive vice president of the Las Vegas chapter of the Associated General Contractors, said the legislation “offers a solution to the problem.”
“We have 10 million or 11 million undocumented workers in this country, and it gives them a chance to become documented, which I think is fair,” Holloway said.
The city’s construction industry is experiencing a labor shortage that guest workers could alleviate, Holloway added.
“It would help stabilize our work force, and it would help to ensure that we continue to have a work force,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
