Bipartisan Coalition Urges Immigration Reform Ahead of 2022 Midterms

Story by U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined a diverse group of industries and organizations across the political spectrum in announcing a new coalition, The Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus (ANIC), to advance bipartisan legislative solutions on immigration reform and border security during the 117th Congress.

The group, consisting of the business community, faith leaders, and advocates, is working to build support for bipartisan legislative solutions that provide permanent legal protections and other reforms for Dreamers, TPS recipients, and agricultural workers.

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined The Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus because our elected officials cannot continue to forego opportunities to fix our nation’s broken immigration system,” said U.S. Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Immigration Policy Jon Baselice. “We believe that elected officials can reach a strong bipartisan consensus on providing permanent legal protections to Dreamers, addressing America’s agricultural labor shortage, and strengthening our nation’s border security efforts. The Chamber is happy to work side-by-side with our friends in the faith, education, and advocacy communities to make these long-overdue reforms a reality.”

Fellow members of the alliance include the Americans for Prosperity, Business Roundtable, the Bipartisan Policy Center Action, the LIBRE Initiative, the National Association of Manufacturers, Stand Together, the National Immigration Forum, World Relief, the Niskanen Center, and the National Association of Evangelicals.

“​​At no other point in recent history has the need for immigration reform been greater than it is today. Simply put, the system is broken. Millions of workers, many of whom were indispensable to the nation’s COVID-19 response, are living in legal jeopardy. Apprehensions at the southern border are at historic highs. And employers are struggling to find workers to fill jobs in many industries,” members of the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus wrote in a letter today to Sen. Majority Leader Schumer, Sen. Minority Leader McConnell, House Speaker Pelosi, and House Minority Leader McCarthy.

A copy of the letter can be found here.

The letter outlines three priorities for Congress ahead of the midterm elections:

• Address the uncertainty that dominates the everyday lives of so many undocumented immigrants seeking to contribute to our economy;
• Tackle issues facing our border and strengthen our nation’s ability to manage the border in a secure and orderly manner; and
• Solve the workforce limitations in our agricultural sector that are currently contributing to supply chain issues and raising cost concerns.

The Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus believes that reaching a legislative consensus on incremental reforms to our immigration system in the short term can lead to larger, more systemic bipartisan reforms in the future.

About The Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus

The Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus (ANIC) is a public coalition of business, faith, and advocacy organizations working to build support for bipartisan legislative solutions that provide permanent legal protections and other reforms for Dreamers, TPS recipients, and agricultural workers in 2022. To learn more about ANIC’s efforts, visit www.anic.co.