As the nation’s proposed immigration reforms continue to stir the political pot, an unexpected addition to the bubbling stew hopes to make it boil over.
As recently reported in The Charlotte Observer, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is joining forces with CEOS all over the country to put policies in place that will allow the nation’s approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants to pursue a path to citizenship and be able to legally join the work force. The coalition, called the Partnership for a New American Economy, also plans to improve technology to prevent illegal immigration and penalize companies that purposely set out to attract and hire illegal immigrants.
“We’re just going to keep the pressure on the congressmen,” Murdoch said. “I think we can show to the public the benefits of having migrants and the jobs that go with them.”
Bloomberg added, “Somebody has to lead and explain to the country why this is in our interest.”
The CEOs said Thursday in statements that their companies – and the nation – depend on immigrants.
“It’s our great strength as a nation, and it’s also critical for continued economic growth,” Walt Disney Co. Chairman and CEO Robert Iger said in a statement. “To remain competitive in the 21st century, we need effective immigration reform that invites people to contribute to our shared success by building their own American dream.”
The group says it intends to make its point to policymakers by “publishing studies, conducting polls, convening forums and paying for public education campaigns.”
Supporters of this approach to immigration reform have reason to be optimistic, despite the fact that an unfavorable political climate has prompted other established immigrant advocacy groups to redirect their efforts towards serving a narrower portion of the illegal immigrant population, as reported by the Spanish-language newspaper Mi Gente. Agencies such as America’s Voice, the National Council of La Raza, and Reform Immigration for America met last Friday in Washington and decided it would be in their best interest to pursue projects such as the Dream Act and AgJobs, which would benefit about 2.5 million undocumented individuals.
As for Charlotte-specific immigration reform, Mi Gente also report that at the 78th Annual Conference of Mayors, held a few weeks ago in Oklahoma, Mayor Anthony Foxx
…no confirmó si dio su apoyo
a las resoluciones pero afirmó que “apoya una
reforma migratoria integral que involucre todos
los asuntos”
Translation: … he did not confirm his support for these measures, but affirmed that he “supports comprehensive immigration reform which involves all issues”
This article appears in Jun 22-28, 2010.
More big business’s selling out American jobs to fatten their wallets and to remove the middle class and widen the gap even further between the elite and the poor….
Finally, some smart, sane people are taking the lead on this issue instead of lunatics like Rand Paul. Legalizing everybody who is here will prevent companies from paying slave wages. Our current system is creating a two-tiered society and this needs to stop. Everyone must be a citizen and we all must have the same rights. The best way to maintain our freedom as Americans is to spread it. How can we do that if we don’t even have freedom for everybody in our own country?
And to all the people who say that these CEOs are selling out Americans, was it a sell out when your ancestors were allowed to come here? After all, your ancestors took land from the Native Americans (not to mention their lives) and jobs that would have gone to the newly freed slaves. So give me a break.
I assume most of us agree we need additional workers in the united states.
for me the issue with this is that it sends a message that following the law is not a good idea. I am for penalizing those who come across the border without a valid visa or green card for working. I am also against big business encouraging this. As a nation it is our right to control who enters the country and how long they stay. Anything short of this means we have stopped being a nation. If we need additional workers, either full time or seasonal, it should be authoized and agreed on by the nation. Not with a wink and a nod to ignore those who enter without legal documentation.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Did it ever occur to the xenophobes in this country that if we let the honest people come through the border crossings and register on the way in that they wouldn’t be sneaking across the desert?
Then the Border Patrol could concentrate on the criminals trying to sneak drugs in and weapons out through the desert.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD LUCK!!!