KSL: “Utah leaders call for immigration reform, cite contributions of immigrants”

Published: February 21, 2017

One Utah lawmaker borrowed part of a President Donald Trump campaign quote Tuesday as he advocated for immigration reform, saying Congress needs to build a door into its immigration policy.

Members of Utah’s faith and business community joined with state lawmakers to call upon Congress to promote immigration reform. Over a dozen speakers from various backgrounds shared their experiences hiring and working with immigrants, and stressed the difficulties of doing business with a workforce that is growing concerned about its place in the country.

The speakers organized with New American Economy, an organization promoting the economic contributions of immigrants. They cited recent immigration and workforce figures to demonstrate immigrants’ contributions to the nation’s economy.

Rep. Mike Winder, R-West Valley City, advocated for entrepreneurial involvement by immigrants to the U.S. and said immigrants bring $4 billion in spending power to the state of Utah.

“President Donald Trump, in the recent campaign, talked about building a wall. You may have heard of it,” Winder said. “But he also talked about a big beautiful door in that wall.”

 

Read the full story from KSL: “Utah leaders call for immigration reform, cite contributions of immigrants

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