LVGEA Urges Congress to Pass Immigration Reform Legislation

(Las Vegas) – The Board of Directors of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance today approved a resolution endorsing immigration reform as one of the organization’s major federal priorities during the 113th and 114th Congress.

Joining a growing chorus of business groups who want to improve our economy through such legislation, the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance supports Congressional action for comprehensive immigration reform that:

-secures our borders
-expands the temporary worker and employer-sponsored green cards programs
-creates a balanced and workable employment verification system
-provides a legalization program with tight criteria and eventual citizenship.

“Our endorsement today is fundamentally about furthering economic development in our region and making metro regions across the United States more globally competitive,” said Missy Young, Chairman of the LVGEA Board and Executive Vice President of Colocation at Switch. “Additionally, there are few states where the growing economic clout of immigrants is more apparent than in Nevada, and we believe federal legislation will expand opportunities for immigrant-owned firms and businesses seeking to hire talented foreign nationals.”

One in five Nevadans are foreign born, and more than one third of Nevada’s students are children of immigrants. Immigrants make up roughly 1 in 5 Nevadans, and 41.8 percent of them are naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. Nevada’s labor force is 25.3 percent foreign born and 20.7 percent of Nevada business owners are immigrants who generate $1.1 billion in income for Nevada annually. Immigrants matter in Nevada.

“Our immigration system is broken,” said Tom R. Skancke, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance. “Like many others, we’ve read that this Congress won’t pass immigration reform legislation, and that’s frankly unacceptable. What this Congress should do is come together in a bipartisan effort to pass immigration reform. We must not forget that all of our ancestors came from another part of the world at some point. Immigration reform is not just about our neighbors to the South. It is a global issue. Lack of action on immigration reform affects our ability to attract foreign direct investment and oftentimes educated talent our region currently does not have or does not produce.”  Elected officials across the political spectrum, a coalition of businesses, governments, the private sector, economic development agencies, social groups, and the majority of Nevada residents and stakeholders support reform of the current U.S. immigration system.

Specifically, the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance joins the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Conference of Mayors, Latin Chamber of Commerce, Asian Chamber of Commerce, and Rosemary Vassiliadis, director of aviation at McCarran International Airport in endorsing federal immigration reform.

The board approved the resolution at its Thursday, July 10 meeting. See the resolution here: 7.10.14 Immigration Reform Resolution

About Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance

The Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance is a 501(c)6 membership organization dedicated to growing the economy in Southern Nevada through connectivity, community development, and strong business recruitment, retention and outreach.  LVGEA’s vision is to help Southern Nevada residents thrive in a global economy by fostering a more prosperous, diverse and connected regional economy.  For more information, call 702.791.0000 or visit www.www.lvgea.org.

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