At a recent Texas Business Immigration Coalition fundraiser to discuss the critical role immigrants play in the North Texas economy, lawmakers and business leaders called for common sense, bipartisan immigration reform.
The valuable role that immigrants play in the workforce, especially during this time of record-low unemployment in the state, was highlighted by several in attendance.
“Immigrants are extremely important to our economy and specifically my business as a manufacturer,” Brenda Haupt, owner and chief operating officer of Globe Products Co., said. "With unemployment at record lows, the lack of available labor is a constraint to my businesses and across our entire economy."
Texas GOP Vote reports business owners saying that immigrants are critical to the talent pool and that in some industries, foreign-born workers are "more willing" to take on the work.
“We certainly don’t discriminate against hiring Americans; there is nothing that we do as a company that focuses on foreign-born workers,” Adam Lampert, CEO of Manchester Care Homes, said. "We are out hiring aggressively in this market and we are knocking on all doors looking for Americans to come work for us. They are not the ones answering the call. It’s important that we have a mechanism in our immigration policy to allow workers into our country. I’m not talking about citizenship necessarily, but I’m talking about foreign-born workers who have the ability to get a visa to come in and do work in my industry and others in Texas.”
Another point of focus was calling on Congress to pass bipartisan immigration reform, especially in response to DACA recipients who are awaiting the decision of their legal status.
“If DACA recipients lose their eligibility to work legally in our state, the economy could lose $6 billion in GDP annually,” Bill Miller, senior executive adviser for Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Co., said. "That’s not something small, that’s huge and that’s a big impact…That’s a really important thing that we have to protect."
According to a study by North Texas Commission, DACA recipients generate a significant amount of income, pay their fair share of taxes, and have tremendous spending power.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins raised the issue of immigrant fear of the census and the funding that Texas communities could lose if residents aren't counted correctly. Officially, the citizenship question is not on the census form and the data can only be used to generate statistics.
“A 1% undercount costs $40 million a year in services for which our local [Dallas County] taxpayers will have to make up the difference if that federal money doesn’t get here,” Jenkins said. "An 8% undercount in Dallas County costs $3.2 billion over a 10-year period."
The Texas Business Immigration Coalition pledges to protect the Texas Dream Act, support law enforcement as they promote the safety and well-being of all Texans regardless of immigrant status, and find bipartisan solutions to affect immigration policy in Texas.
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