Thread: Business head offers sensible stance on immigration

Business head offers sensible stance on immigration

star-telegram.com
Opinion by Bud Kennedy
Posted Thursday, Dec. 01, 2011

Texas' image has taken a beating lately, even among Republicans.

Suddenly, some guy from Massachusetts thinks he can tell us what to do with immigrant students. And Gov. Rick "No Sanctuary" Perry is portrayed as an old border softie.

In a state where illegal immigration has been credited with driving a net gain of $17.7 billion per year in economic development, we're being called idiots for not wanting to oust the workers who helped drive Texas' success.

This is a tough time to defend Texas' business-minded approach to immigration.

Most Republican campaign rhetoric has been "disappointing," said Bill Hammond of the Austin-based Texas Association of Business.

"We've got a serious problem, and the candidates need to address it in a serious manner," he said.

The problem isn't enforcement.

It's employment.

"We can't send 12 million people 'back home,' " Hammond said in an interview before a speech at a Fort Worth restaurant.

"That would have a catastrophic effect on the economy. You're seeing that now in Alabama and Arizona," states that tried to drive illegal immigrants away and wound up ruining American-owned businesses and driving away needed retail shoppers.

Throughout this round of the recurring national debate over increased immigration -- legal or illegal -- the TAB has never flip-flopped.

In its 90th year, the group -- essentially a state chamber of commerce -- supports, in so many words:

Making it easier to hire temporary workers.

Helping businesses find workers and grow when the economy rebounds.

Rewriting federal immigration law so it can be enforced efficiently. (Hint: A $2 trillion mass eviction of peaceful neighbors who are only minor civil offenders is not efficient.)

Allowing "hard-working, tax-paying" illegal immigrants a way to stay.

(The exact TAB position is at www.txbiz.org/advocacy/immigration.aspx.)

Hammond said three segments of Texas' economy will need more workers soon: construction, hospitality and agriculture.

"Go back a few years, they were suffering for lack of labor," he said.

"I understand the pressure now to secure the border. But the issue is that Congress has failed to act."

Texas is not the failure.

Bud Kennedy's column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Twitter: @budkennedy

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Isn't it interesting that a business group overlooks the costs to taxpayers of their cheap labor. Never mind that the citizens of Texas are paying all medical and educational expenses for illegals. Never mind the cost of welfare to jackpot babies. Never mind the costs in dollars and lives that come with illegal criminals.

In a state where illegal immigration has been credited with driving a net gain of $17.7 billion per year in economic development

Yeah right. Does that include all the profits the employers get to keep or use to expand?

Privatize the Profits, Socialize the Costs. The General Public be DAMNED!