Senate̢??‰?s Passage of Immigration Bill a Promising Start for Small Firms Looking for Reform

Washington, DC̢??‰۝The Senate̢??‰?s passage of the ̢???Gang of Eight̢??‰?s̢???? bipartisan immigration legislation is great news for small business owners looking for intelligent fixes to our broken immigration system. While not perfect, the bill is full of provisions small employers strongly support and believe would help their businesses and our economy.

Small Business Majority recently conducted scientific opinion polling that found small businesses across the country agree our immigration system is broken and support reforming it. However, as the bill moves to the House of Representatives, we hope provisions are added that safeguard small businesses from requirements to verify the legal status of a worker. A program like E-Verify, which some businesses use to check whether an employee̢??‰?s documents match information in government databases, must include exemptions for very small businesses. Without protections in place, the regulatory paperwork could become too taxing for some small businesses to manage.

Small business owners understand that fixing our country̢??‰?s immigration system will help them foster better workforces, which will bolster their bottom lines and our economy as a whole. Increasing the number of pathways for immigrants to come to this country, stay legally and pay taxes will strengthen our economy and encourage a robust and diversified business sector.

Everyone benefits when we encourage hard-working immigrants to bring their skillsets to the U.S. and let previously undocumented immigrants legally join our workforce, pay taxes and contribute in a meaningful way to our economy. We hope lawmakers include provisions protecting small businesses from onerous reporting requirements, but also move this critical legislation forward in the House in a timely manner.