Bloomberg urges legislators to move on immigration reform

Mayor Bloomberg has joined the fray, urging government leaders and legislators to pursue effective and immediate immigration reform (Getty Images)

By JUAN GASTELUM
Channel: Economics, Immigration

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday urged Democrats and Republicans to push for a reform of the high-skilled immigration system that would reinvigorate the U.S. economy and generate jobs.

A reform “offers both parties a chance to champion a cause that is vitally important to American companies, to show entrepreneurs and business leaders that they understand the needs of the American economy, and to show the American people that, when it comes to immigration reform, they are in favor of policies that will help American workers,” the mayor said at an event sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Bloomberg argued that the best way to combat a 9 percent unemployment rate is to streamline the process by which foreign investors and highly educated professionals can obtain visas to come to the United States. He highlighted the contributions of past immigrants, founders of some of today’s most lucrative companies, who helped keep the country competitive in the world market by generating millions of jobs.

“As the data clearly show, immigrants don’t take away jobs; they make jobs – and that is especially true for high-skilled immigrants,” he said.

With his speech, Bloomberg joins a myriad of groups putting pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to do something to fix the nation’s broken immigration system. Though the mayor conceded that both Democrats and Republicans have presented their own solutions, he said the conversation has been dominated by rhetoric meant to please each party’s respective voters base.

The mayor also put forth some points that should drive economics-based immigration legislation. He said new laws should increase the number of visas allocated to address the needs of businesses, allow foreign students who attend U.S. schools to stay and work here indefinitely, and stop turning away entrepreneurs who want to start companies.

“The American dream cannot survive if we keep telling the dreamers to go elsewhere,” Bloomberg said.