(This column originally appeared in The Washington Times)
In just a few months, the Trump administration has done several significant things to help big and small businesses.
One is a tax bill that lowers our liabilities and makes many business deductions permanent. Another is tariff renegotiations that have already attracted billions of dollars in investments and will likely open up more opportunities for American manufacturing and perhaps make our products more competitive here and overseas. Also, the administration has relaxed labor, environmental and other regulations, reducing red tape.
That’s a lot by any standard, but more remains to be accomplished. One big issue that has not been addressed is immigration.
Yes, the administration has shut down our borders and throttled the influx of illegal immigrants into this country. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are raiding homes and businesses, arresting and deporting many undocumented immigrants. However, these actions, though long needed, create problems for businesses.
I spent a few days last week in Pharr, Texas, a city bordering Mexico, where Hispanics make up almost 95% of the population. My client there serves the construction industry and is facing serious challenges because of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Construction companies in that area rely on immigrants to perform hourly work. Many of those workers lack documentation. Many others, even those with proper documentation, are terrified to leave their homes lest they be picked up by authorities and detained. The strangling of this worker supply has caused a significant slowdown in construction work across the area. The slowdown has reverberated across all the small and midsize businesses, such as my client, that provide products and services to this industry. Similar incidents across the country mirror the situation in southern Texas.
Ask any small or midsize business owner about one of their biggest challenges this year, and you will hear finding and retaining good people. Immigration raids and border shutdowns are not helping solve this problem; they are making it worse.
I understand why the Trump administration is doing this, but raiding, arresting and deporting isn’t a long-term solution. Businesses need more from our leaders.
With all the administration has accomplished these past few months to help businesses, crafting and piloting a comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform bill would be the biggest help. What should be in such a bill? Many things, but four that I would prioritize.
For starters, undocumented people and even those with green cards who have a history of criminal or terrorist activity or who commit any crime or engage in any unlawful activity while in the United States should face deportation. They are guests in this country. If they don’t behave, or at the very least comply with our laws, and instead create an unsafe, lawless environment for our citizens and their own communities, then they must go. It’s as simple as that.
Next, those in the United States who are undocumented should be allowed to stay permanently and given a path to citizenship. Yes, it’s unfair to all those people who did it the legal way, but life is unfair. To move things forward, something has to give, and some people will get the short end of the stick for the greater good. Let these people stay and fill those hourly jobs. Let them be hired by all those desperate businesses that need them. Allow them to emerge from their homes without fearing being rounded up. Let them create a better life for their families and continue to make this country the best in the world.
Let businesses drive immigration needs. There should be a priority system for allowing new immigrants into this country. First and foremost are skilled workers in demand by businesses who can’t be found elsewhere. This category should be expanded. Next should be workers willing to get trained by potential employers. There needs to be some room left over for those without skills who need religious or cultural freedom and those who, at the very least, have family members who can sponsor them. In other words, a clear pecking order needs to be established by this legislation and be flexible to change year after year.
Finally, foreign students should be allowed to study in the U.S. but only under the condition that they remain and work for U.S. companies for a time, say five to 10 years after graduation. Yes, some will go back to their home countries, but many others will stay and benefit from the advantages of living here. Those are the kinds of immigrants we want to keep on American soil.
A good immigration reform bill should have many more provisions. What I’ve included are my favored points.
We all know we live in a polarized political environment, but as Americans, we also know that we share one thing in common: We are all the sons and daughters of immigrants. Not a single member of Congress would say our current immigration system is working. Every politician I meet agrees that the system needs serious reform.
If President Trump is such a talented deal-maker, then this deal would set his presidency apart from many others. It is the kind of legislation that would enormously impact businesses and the economy overall. More important, it would change the lives of millions over generations.
As a business owner and advocate for small and midsize businesses, I believe this is the most important economic legislation the Trump administration could accomplish as it enters its second year. Mr. President, let’s make a deal.
