A consortium of around 40 chambers from all across the United States, known as Business for Skilled Worker Immigration, has joined the debate in regards to immigration reform in an attempt to gather the views of business owners and community members on a national level. The Chicago Tribune says that the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce was responsible for the creation of the group.
One of those consortium groups is the Chamber of Commerce from the Naperville area, which is in one of Chicago’s western suburbs. The US Chamber’s regional manager for the Great Lakes, Cholly Smith, recently paid a visit to Naperville in order to talk to members of the chamber about such hotly debated issues as immigration reform in order to make sure that everyone had a chance to make their opinions known. Information from all members is being pooled by the coalition in order to ensure that they have a cohesive standpoint when it comes to such a touchy subject.
Business owners in Naperville meanwhile have been voicing their concern about the lack of skilled workers and the time consuming and difficult task of obtaining US visas for workers.
The president and chief executive officer of the local organization, Mike Evans, says that immigration reform has to address the issue of long term unemployment and offer easier access to skilled workers for employers. The US Chamber has similar concerns, according to Smith, as well as wanting to create a national standard for verifying employees and securing borders.