Texas business group wants immigration reform this year


Friday, March 30, 2007

By Mónica Ortiz Uribe

Tribune-Herald staff writer

A construction foreman, a hotel manager, a chef and a grocery store shopper soon will address Texans in a televised ad campaign lobbying Congress for comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to legalization.

The message in all spots: “We need workers.”

Representatives from Waco’s two largest poultry-processing plants, the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, the Waco Business League and two local businesses were present to screen the commercial in Waco on Thursday afternoon.

The ad is sponsored by Texas Employers for Immigration Reform, a statewide group of trade organizations and business owners. It will begin airing on cable and network stations Monday in hopes of spurring Congress to renew its efforts to tackle the thorny, divisive issue.

Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business, said he is traveling to numerous Texas cities, meeting with business leaders in hope of pressuring lawmakers to pass immigration legislation by the year’s end.

“If we want to maintain a vibrant and healthy economy into the future and meet the needs of employers and the customers of this state,” he said, “we need to have a reliable source of immigrant labor.”

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., which employs about 700 workers locally, is a founding member of the seven-month-old reform group.

“I think on a local level we understand that this is a complex issue,” Waco plant manager Paul Miller said. “We understand that it can be an emotional issue and a polarizing issue. Open dialogue and discussion is certainly the direction we need to take.”

Pilgrim’s Pride participates in a voluntary pilot employee verification system to ensure employees are not illegal immigrants. The company has openly stated it supports a guest worker program, a path toward citizenship and border security.

Kenneth Hampton, senior vice president of community development for the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, said it is in the chamber’s best interest to examine all sides of the immigration issue.

“I think it’s definitely an issue we need to all look at as a nation and make sure that we are consistent and fair,” he said.

However, he said, the chamber doesn’t have an official stance on immigration reform.

Other businesses at the meeting encouraging immigration reform included Chef Canteen, a local vending business, and Jack-of-all-Trades, a local personal services company. A Waco representative for Cargill Meat Solutions also was present.

A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House this week includes a pathway to legalization for many of the country’s illegal immigrants. Citizenship would be possible if the immigrant has kept a job for six years, learned English and civics, and paid taxes.

Despite President Bush’s endorsement, Congress failed to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill last year.

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