Sample Letter For Contractors, #1
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Dear ,
I am the (title) of a landscaping company in (city). Last year I had (number) employees during the slow season, (number) in the busy season, and annual gross sales of (dollars). As a result, I am intimately familiar with the practical problems businesses face in recruiting workers and in dealing with our complex immigrating laws. I am, therefore, a stakeholder in the immigration reform debate!
(statement about why current immigration laws make no sense and must be changed, with example to illustrate point)
As an employer of immigrants, I will tell you that these workers are some of the best and hardest-working employees. In fact, my business couldn't function without them. Immigrants are dependable workers who fill jobs that American-born workers seldom want. Removing them would mean invading workplaces across America and disrupting business on an unprecedented scale.
I, like most, believe that we need immigration reform. In order to make reform work and be successful, I believe that any proposed legislation needs to be truly comprehensive and accomplish the following:
- Create an efficient and effective new worker program that would allow U.S. businesses like mine to recruit immigrant workers when U.S. workers are not available for certain jobs;
- Provide for a process by which undocumented workers now in the country and holding down jobs could gain a type of permanent le gal status that would allow them to stay in the country and continue to work. Of course, these workers would have to be screened for any kind of criminal record and would have to pay a fine for coming into the country without going through proper channels; and
- Allow the country to gain better control over our borders to prevent illegal immigration, and also provide for better interior enforcement against unscrupulous employers. But new enforcement systems need to be workable and should not unduly penalize employers under overreaching requirements.
The House of Representatives recently passed legislation, H.R. 4437, which seriously concerns me. It is only an enforcement bill and in many ways imposes requirements on employers that are extremely unreasonable and would be impossible to comply with. It also does nothing to address broader immigration reform issues.
We now have an opportunity to take control of the situation and promote our nation's values, security and economy by proposing reform that includes the three above measures.
As someone who has much to gain or lose in the immigration debate, I want to make my voice heard. I urge you to take a realistic approach to reform and make it comprehensive. Thank you for your time.
Respectfully yours,