NEWS

Area business leaders call for immigration reform

Adam Rodewald
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Marchers carry a huge American flag near the Chinatown Gateway as they march to the Metropolitan Detention Center during one of several May Day immigration-themed events in Los Angeles, California. Demonstrators are calling for immigration reform and an end to deportations of undocumented residents.

DE PERE – Northeastern Wisconsin manufacturing and agriculture leaders joined others across the state and nation Wednesday calling on Congress to immediately tackle immigration reform, an issue they said is hurting their workforce and creating an eminent economic crisis.

"It's time now to make changes," said Laurie Fischer, director of dairy policy for the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association. "We want to work with the Senate and the House and businesses around the country to make sure there is a way to ensure there are workers who will stay here and help us run our dairy farms."

Industry organizations held events in Wisconsin and 24 other states Wednesday during which they released new state-specific polling data showing a majority of voters believe the immigration system is broken and should be fixed this year.

The events were held in key Congressional districts in hopes of stirring up media attention and public interest that would push Congress and the White House to work together to enact reforms.

In Wisconsin, 87 percent of voters believe the system needs fixing, and 81 percent want Congress to act this year, according to the polling numbers from the nonpartisan Partnership for a New American Economy . The poll surveyed 855 likely voters in Wisconsin by telephone in June and has a 3.35 percent margin of error.

Protestors are opposing the arrival of buses carrying women and children undocument migrants for proecessing at the Murrieta Border Patrol Station. Deportations of illegal migrants crossing the US border are being stepped up.

"We hope we're creating a tipping point," said George Klaetsch, spokesman for the partnership, which is working with Republicans and Democratic officials across the country, as well as business leaders, to push for immigration reform.

"The congressmen and women want to hear form their voters, and ... we're hoping with the election being less than 100 days away that creates a little bit of a tipping point and push for them to act this year."

While most voters said they want to see immigration reform, they said the issue will have less influence on who they vote for than jobs, the economy, spending and health care, according to the poll.

The business groups participating in Wednesday's events are trying to redefine the debate as an economic issue.

A counter-protestor holds a sign supporting immigration outside a U.S. Border Patrol facility in Murrieta during an anti-immigration protest in Murrieta, California.

Marcus Brenneman, manager of a Nestle USA pizza factory in Little Chute, said he believes immigrants are crucial to maintaining an adequate workforce as baby boomers retire.

He said roughly 30 percent of his 1,200 factory employees are Hispanic and Hmong immigrants.

"I hope that it is now time that we really look into this immigration reform and have some changes. If done properly I believe we can continue to have the U.S. be what it has been for so long — it really is a place where people form all over the world aspire to come be part of a thriving economy," he said.

"If we don't have this reform occur, I believe that will slowly dwindle away," he said.

—arodewal@pressgazettemedia.com and find him on Twitter @AdamGRodewald.

Immigration reform poll

Newly released survey results from the Partnership for a New American Economy shows most Wisconsin voters support offering legal status or U.S. citizenship to immigrants living illegally here. Of those polled:

  • 34 percent support legal status with eligibility for U.S. citizenship
  • 31 percent support legal status without U.S. citizenship
  • 27 percent want all those living here illegally deported
  • 7 percent are unsure