Comprehensive Immigration Reform A Main Topic Today

On June 25, President Obama sat down with a cross section lawmakers from Capitol Hill to discuss comprehensive immigration reform.  The goal of the meeting was to discuss ideas, gauge the interest of Congress on tackling this issue again and to talk about possible timelines for action. This comes the day after a speech by Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, announcing the principles he would like to have in any comprehensive immigration reform bill, including:

• Curtailing illegal immigration,
• Control of the borders,
• Bio-metric based employer verification system,
• Registration of illegal aliens currently in the U.S. to begin the process of converting to legal status,
• Family reunification,
• Encouragement of bringing highly skilled immigrants to the U.S., and
• More managed flow of those lower skilled coming into the country.

While the President is committed to comprehensive immigration reform, AGC and others in the business community are deeply concerned about the direction the debate will take on some key issues, including how to enact a mandatory, accurate verification system, the development of a future flow program and employer enforcement. AGC remains a steering committee member of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition (EWIC) and continues to talk to Congress about the need for workable immigration reform that includes a new future flow visa program to be determined by the needs of the market.