Leading food manufacturers urge immigration reform
In a letter mailed to Congress Tuesday, CEOs from some of the nation’s top businesses and food manufacturers pressed the legislative body to fix the immigration system so it can work for their businesses and communities.
The companies, including Cargill, Coca-Cola, Tyson Foods and McDonalds along with 18 others, wrote “there are many things that are broken about the immigration system and many problems that need to be addressed. We need better border security and better immigration law enforcement, including in the workplace. Congress needs to provide American employers with a way to verify if new hires are who they say they are and are eligible to work.”
Other points addressed in the letter ask Congress for solutions to legalize immigrants who follow the law and are filling needed work.
However, the CEOs think even more is needed to attack the heart of the problem and fix immigration to make the US more competitive.
“All our companies rely on legal immigrants working alongside Americans to keep our businesses growing and contributing to the economy,” the letter says.
The CEOs said the problem with this is there is currently no legal way for these less-skilled foreign workers to enter the US if they don’t already have a family here.
The executives say Congress has an obligation to fill the gap by providing a visa program for less-skilled foreign workers looking for continuous employment. They acknowledge businesses should first look to hiring American citizens. But when companies cannot find enough help, the executives say hiring foreign workers should be quick, easy and legal.
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