With the Senate having passed immigration reform, political supporters of the measure are now urging the House of Representatives, which is under the control of the Republican Party, to move the bill to President Barack Obama’s hands in order for him to sign it into legislation.
Obama has been meeting with business leaders who are in favor of the pathway to US citizenship for those immigrants who are already living illegally in the United States. The George W Bush Institute recently published a book that noted that it is unreasonable to keep 11 million people who are already in the country living in the shadows. The US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored the book and believes that the bill will have a positive impact on job creation.
“All of these business leaders recognize the degree to which immigration is a contributor to growth, a contributor to expansion, a creator of jobs, but they also recognize that the immigration system we currently have is broken,” Obama told a group at the White House. “I very much appreciate all the business leaders who are here for making this push. I know they’re going to be talking to various Senators and members of Congress over the next several days.”
George W Bush Institute research fellow Matthew Denhard, who wrote the book, says that immigrants own 18% of small businesses even though just 13% of the population was born overseas. Foreign-born individuals also started over 50% of the high-tech companies in Silicon Valley that began operation between 1995 and 2005.