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Self-employed business owners see illegal immigration as serious issue
The Business Journal of Phoenix - 3:36 PM MST Thursday
by Chris Casacchia
The Business Journal

Three-quarters of micro-business owners view illegal immigration as a serious situation, according to a online member poll conducted by the National Association for the Self-Employed released Thursday.

Most respondents (87 percent) called for greater allocation of resources for border security and 84 percent urged tougher penalties for those who hire illegal immigrants .

"Illegal immigration and immigration reform are very controversial issues in this country, and one that affects micro-businesses directly," said Kristie Darien, NASE executive director of the legislative office in Washington, D.C. "The NASE wants to educate our members on the policy proposals and ways to ensure their businesses comply with federal hiring laws."

Of the nearly 1,000 voluntary respondents, 44 percent said this issue directly affected their business. Nearly one-third of respondents (32 percent) said illegal immigration was a problem because of the cost to taxpayers, while 23 percent said the problem was the burden on public services.

Immigration has become a major campaign issue as midterm elections approach in November and Arizona is ground zero for the debate.

According to the poll, a majority of micro-business owners believe hiring illegal immigrants is costing the U.S. a great deal more than it is returning. Additionally, micro-business owners strongly support government policy changes to control illegal immigration and eliminate the social and economic problems associated with undocumented residents.

Competition among businesses that employ undocumented workers is a chief concern for micro-business owners trying to compete on a level playing field.

"An important issue for micro-businesses owners is when they need to expand, they must also compete against businesses that use undocumented workers in their work force," said NASE lead business consultant Gene Fairbrother. "This can often mean that those who do use illegal immigrants and do not have to deal with employee rights put the businesses that follow the law at a disadvantage because of additional tax costs."

Posted in the members-only portal on the NASE Web site, the nonscientific survey was taken in June and members were prohibited from taking it twice.

Gov. Janet Napolitano and Sen. John McCain favor a guest worker program and some legal pathways to citizenship for the estimated 12 million immigrants who already live in the U.S., while Sen. Jon Kyl favors comprehenisve immigration reform aimed at enforcing the borders.