Tucson Chamber of Commerce Supports Key Principles of Senator Kyl-s Immigration Reform Plan

Influential Group of Business Leaders Opposes Any New Path to Citizenship and Says Enforcement of Border Must Be Priority Tucson The Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce has announced its support for several key principles in Senator Kyls comprehensive immigration reform proposal. The influential group of business leaders said that Kyls approach addresses the need for an effective guest worker program and would ensure that American workers do not suffer any long term impacts from a broad new visa program that would allow unskilled workers and their families to become citizens of the United States regardless of economic demands. Senator Kyl knows as much or more about the immigration problem than any other leader in the country, and he has proposed a sensible program that puts the priority on enforcement while also meeting the needs of business, said Jack Camper, president of the Tucson Chamber of Commerce. We applaud Senator Kyl for consistently working with us on the issues important to business and our community, and we support his efforts to enact comprehensive immigration reform. The Tucson Chamber of Commerce established principles to guide immigration reform, which they say complement several of those supported by Senator Kyl. These principles endorsed by the Chamber include: * Border security and enforcement must be the primary focus of immigration reform so that we do not repeat the errors of the 1986 immigration legislation in which millions of undocumented aliens were legalized and border security was not enforced. * There should be an allowance for extended residency for guest workers, but no new path to citizenship. Instead, existing pathways to citizenship must be used. * Employers must be sanctioned for hiring illegal aliens, however the current verification system is largely unworkable and must be improved to give businesses a fair opportunity to screen their workforce and comply with the law. * It is necessary that any part of a worker program include an eligibility verification system with a quick response to employers. * Any guest worker program needs to have provisions to ensure that U.S. citizens have priority for job opportunities.