Chamber backs effort on immigration reform
by Craig Harris - Sept. 25, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce, which has opposed the state's employer-sanctions law, threw its support Wednesday behind a new media campaign on national immigration reform.

At the chamber's Phoenix headquarters, a panel of political and business leaders called on Congress to pass immigration legislation that would focus on security and allow immigrants to work in the U.S.

They also unveiled a new 60-second TV ad that will begin airing in Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver and Las Vegas.
Glenn Hamer, the chamber's chief executive, said lawmakers have failed in passing immigration legislation and they need to "finish the job" to find a legal way to bring needed workers into the U.S.

Hamer declined to say how much money the chamber was investing in the ad campaign, which a spokesman said would cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars."

He also said the chamber's involvement was not related to its opposition to the employer-sanctions law, which the organization says hinders Arizona businesses because it creates an uneven playing field with employers in other states without a similar law.

Joining Hamer at the 40-minute event were Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, former Congressman Henry Bonilla, civil-rights activist Raul Yzaguirre, Tucson Electric Power Chief Executive Jim Pignatelli and Ironco Enterprises President Sheridan Bailey.

Bailey also has been critical of the employer-sanctions law, and he plans to outsource steel fabrication to Mexico if he can't find laborers once the economy rebounds.

"We don't have enough workers for semi-skilled to high-technical workers," Bailey said.

The sanctions law went into effect this year and a business can be shut down if it knowingly hires illegal workers.

So far no employer has been charged, but the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has aggressively used the law to arrest illegal workers accused of committing identity theft.

The organization behind the TV commercials is MATT.org, or Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together of San Antonio.

The group enlisted Bonilla as its spokesman, and he said MATT.org wants to keep the immigration issue on the front burner with the Nov. 4 election approaching.


Reach the reporter at craig.harris@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8478.

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