Oregon Small Business Owners Call For Immigration Reform With Earned Citizenship

Main Street Alliance of Oregon leaders say comprehensive approach best for businesses and economy, release small business principles for immigration reform.

Main Street Alliance of Oregon , a statewide network  of small business owners, released the statements below from small business leaders in response to developments on immigration reform this week, including Monday’s announcement of a bi-partisan Senate framework for reform and President Obama’s speech on immigration in Las Vegas.

The Main Street Alliance also released a set of small business principles for immigration reform, available here:  http://bit.ly/VkBuoJ

Jose Gonzalez, owner of Tu Casa Real Estate in Salem:

“A comprehensive immigration package with a path to earned citizenship is more than smart politics – it’s smart economics, and it’s the right move for small businesses and the economy. Comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship would expand our GDP by an estimated $1.5 trillion over 10 years. That’s nearly twice the GDP growth of reform without a path to citizenship. Our out-of-date and out-of-touch immigration policies are getting in the way of rebuilding the economy. It’s time to fix this problem now, this year.”

Mark Gabriel of Advanced Chiropractic in Portland:

“As an immigrant business owner who came to the U.S. to build a better life like so many before me, I’ve worked hard to build my business with my own two hands. As a chiropractor, that’s literally with my own two hands! Comprehensive immigration reform that recognizes the contributions of immigrants like me will provide a big boost to the local and national economy. A path to citizenship for immigrants in our country will be good for small businesses like mine – it will strengthen my customer base. We look forward to working hard to make that a reality.”

Jim Gilbert owner of Northwoods Nursery in Molalla.

“Small businesses need immigration reform that promotes productivity and reduces red tape. That means avoiding putting time-consuming administrative and enforcement responsibilities on the shoulders of small business owners. It also means fixing the broken laws that divide families. In a small business, we’re like a family and we recognize that what happens at home affects morale and focus at work. When an employee’s family is torn apart by our broken immigration laws, it hurts productivity and that’s bad for business. Immigration reform that keeps families together will protect productivity and let us focus on what we do best – serving our customers and creating jobs.”