In Tennessee, immigrants make up about 5 percent of the population. Numbers released by the New American Economy have shown just how that number impacts others.
“Immigrants make up 15 percent of Nashville’s tourism, hospitality and recreation industries. More than 20 percent of the construction industry has jobs that are filled by immigrants and both of those are critical in maintaining our prosperity and momentum as we move into the future,” said Ralph Schulz with the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.
Many of the men who planned to speak to lawmakers Tuesday are immigrants themselves including Councilman Fabian Bedne.
“This is what you get with an immigrant, you get somebody who is in love, passionate about what we have here, about our democracy, about our system of rights,” Bedne said.
That’s why they’ve spoken with lawmakers about immigration reform.
“We need to be able to hire more immigrant workers, and our immigration system in this nation is not working for us,” Stefan Maupin with the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation said.
Read the full story from News Channel 5: “A Look At An Immigrant’s Impact on Tennessee”
