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Chamber Delegation Urges
Immigration Reform |
By
Erin E. Fogg
Observer Staff Writer
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A
delegation representing the
Herndon Dulles Chamber of
Commerce traveled to Capitol
Hill Tuesday to convince
congressmen of the country's
pressing need to work toward
enacting comprehensive
immigration reform. |
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The
visit came just days before the
House of Representatives was
expected to clear a tough border
security measure that would make
it a federal crime to live in
the country illegally.
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Of
course, Senate approval and
signage by President George W.
Bush is required before a bill
becomes law. However, business
leaders have begun urging
Congress to consider a
comprehensive bill that would
enact a guest worker program and
grant temporary legal status to
the millions of illegal
immigrants already in the United
States. |
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Such a bill is still being
called for by the Bush
administration. |
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The
Chamber delegation was comprised
of chairwoman Pat Williams and
president and CEO Eileen Curtis,
as well as members of the
chamber's Hispanic Business
Committee, Raul Danny Vargas and
Charles Tievsky. |
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Joined by Herndon Mayor Michael
O'Reilly and Fairfax County
Supervisor Joan DuBois, the
delegation met with Congressmen
Tom Davis and Frank Wolf to
communicate its sense of urgency
in working toward a more
comprehensive solution. |
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At
a press conference back in
Herndon that evening, Williams
outlined the delegation's
perspective of the national
issue and some key items to note
in the debate. |
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"We're appreciative to our
elected officials for standing
with us," she said. "But we want
them to go beyond what we've
been reading in the paper is
going on on Capitol Hill."
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Comprehensive immigration reform
could include a guest worker
program, Williams said. Such a
program would meet the growing
demand for unskilled and
semiskilled labor, while
strengthening national security.
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Improvements in technology and
manpower must also be made to
make immigration processing more
efficient. |
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Williams said the congressmen
were very receptive to the
delegation's comments and were
eager to listen to all sides of
the issue. However, she said she
believes they "feel pressure to
put something into place right
away." |
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Curtis said the congressmen
appeared to understand Herndon's
particular perspective of
immigration reform, having been
unfairly made the "poster child
for issues of the nation" while
establishing a regulated day
labor hiring site. |
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She
said a chamber summit once
highlighted the No. 1 challenge
to assimilating immigrants into
the community is the need to
learn the English language. The
chamber has since received
grants for and begun holding ESL
classes and courses for ESL
teachers. |
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"This is very much on the minds
of the Northern Virginia
business community," Curtis
said. "I think they heard us
today." |
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Vargas added that the issues
being faced in Herndon are
symptomatic of many complex
issues at the federal level that
need to be addressed. |
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"That complexity shouldn't stop
us from taking the first step
and working on the problem
sooner rather than later," he
said. |
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The
delegation was scheduled to
return to Washington, D.C. the
following day to meet with other
government officials. Williams
said the delegation would
continue to work on influencing
legislation that would respond
to its position. |
