Thread: Small business owners appeal for relaxed immigration laws

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cct ... 175792.htm

Posted on Fri, Mar. 24, 2006


Small business owners appeal for relaxed immigration laws

By Susan Ferriss
THE SACRAMENTO BEE

SACRAMENTO - The California Landscape Contractors Association and other businesses are calling for pressure on U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and other California representatives to support legalization for undocumented workers and a guest worker program.

This coming Monday, Feinstein, D-Calif., and other Senate Judiciary Committee members could vote on historic proposals for immigration reform and border security that would go to the full Senate and then to a conference with the House of Representatives.

The Senate is sufficiently divided over immigration reform -- and what to do about 11 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants -- and that debate could erupt into a free-for-all on the Senate floor this month.

Construction and landscape business owners who met Wednesday in Sacramento listened to an update on federal proposals from Laura Reiff, a leader of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"It's incumbent over the next 10 days to get Sen. Feinstein on board," said Reiff, who also lobbies for California landscapers.

Landscapers have asked the state's construction, janitorial, health care and other industries to also lobby for legalization and visas for future guest workers.

"You have a lot of (immigrant) people who would like to stay. I'm in favor of this," said Steve Lehtonen, executive vice president of the Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Contractors of California.

"This really opened my eyes today," Lehtonen said. "I naturally assumed we were working toward a compromise for business and the undocumented and what's good for the nation."

Many in these businesses say it is hard to attract enough U.S. citizens even with wages above the legal minimum. Some say illegal immigrants have probably used fake documents to get jobs.

Feinstein supports the idea of a pilot program to legalize some undocumented farm laborers. But she has expressed reservations about guest worker programs, fearing they might increase illegal immigration rather than reduce it, said spokesman Howard Gantman.

Reiff said Feinstein seems to have warmed to the possibility of bipartisan compromise that would include earned legalization or illegal immigrants in jobs other than farming. Several Republicans on the Judiciary Committee support various versions of earned legalization, which opponents call "amnesty," would let illegal immigrants secure work permits and, under some proposals, eventual U.S. citizenship.

Ten California landscape business owners met with legislators is month in Washington, and three of them -- all Republican voters -- said Wednesday they were surprised that the lawmakers were not more sympathetic.

"I was most shocked at the Republican Party being against small business," said Cynthia Smallwood, who runs Diversified Landscape Management in Mission Viejo.

"They don't get that there is a labor shortage," she said, explaining that even with wages running up to $35 an hour for public contract work, she can't attract a lot of documented citizens.

Cathy Gurney, owner of Sierra Landscape and Maintenance, also complained of being snubbed by Republicans. "I can't believe I put this party in power," she said. "The Democrats get it. They took time with us."

Peter Dufau, who runs an Oxnard landscape business, said he believes congressional representatives in his party aren't listening to businesses.

"It seems they are listening to a bunch of people who have the time to go out and sit in the desert, like the, quote, unquote, Minutemen," Dufau said, referring to a group that ducts self-styled patrols on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Those contractors are nothing but greedy traitors!


Pay a decent wage and Americans will be perfectly willing to do those jobs!!!

I am a landscaper, in fact a member of the NATIONAL organization. The first thing I learned about the national association is simple...they represent the interests of their BIG PLAYERS, not the small guy.

How small is a company that can afford to make trips to Washington, DC to speak with their elected officials all the way from California? How small is a company that has a small business classification but employs say 100 people, and is doing millions of dollars a year in business?

This is the way the game works...these companies have one team leader of a crew, usually a well educated and knowledgable American citizen, preferably one who speaks Spanish as a second language. The rest of the crew is made up and illegal day laborers working for peanuts and a free lunch. This coupled with their ability to buy landscaping materials in bulk allows them to under cut the small guys, the true small business people like myself, basically forcing us out of business. In the last week I have given three estimates...back five years ago or so, I would have gotten the job on all three...this year, I got one job out of the three estimates, the other two telling me my prices were out of line. They do not care who does the work for them, do not care about laws, they only care about the PRICE!

In the meantime, these supposed SMALL BUSINESS owners act like they are representing MY VOICE...they ARE NOT. They want men like myself out of the business, want me to go belly up, and eventually taking a position working for them at a pittance of what I am truly worth. I stay affloat because I do very unique signature work, bring a true American level of quality to the craft, and some Americans still respect that, still are willing to pay a bit extra for what they get....every one else is happy with cookie cutter landscaping and a cheap price, and I've learned I cannot compete for their business, try to avoid wasting my time trying to.

We need the federal government to redefine SMALL BUSINESS, instead of letting the Chamber of Commerce set the bar. Small business is not those companies with fewer than 100 employees, small business are those of us that have a small handful of workers, or maybe even just ourselves. If you need more than your eight fingers and two thumbs to count your work force, you do not deserve the classification of being a small business owner in America...trust me, true small business owners are a DYING BREED.

"They don't get that there is a labor shortage," she said, explaining that even with wages running up to $35 an hour for public contract work, she can't attract a lot of documented citizens.

My god, 35 bucks an hour, where do I sign up?? Anyother takers here?

Pinto Bean,

Same story with my small business. My customer base is Americans, with a few legal residents. My sales are down because my customers have less to spend. Illegals are driving down their wages and raising their taxes.

The US Chamber (who I told to shove off a couple of years ago), only represents BIG business like Hilton Hotels, not small guys like me.