12 October 2007

US Chamber of Commerce CEO calls for increased legal immigration

The president and chief executive officer of the US Chamber of Commerce has called for an increase to legal American immigration to keep the economy growing, reports the Arizona Republic newspaper. In a conference speech to business leaders in Phoenix, Thomas Donohue insisted the US Congress must readdress the issue after failing to pass immigration reforms earlier this year.

"If we take a hard look at the reality of immigration on our economy, we can reach consensus. We don't have any choice. The US is creating more jobs than workers, and we need immigrants to balance the equation.

"We can either force companies to move offshore. We can either make the US dependent on other countries for our food supply, just like we are for oil or we can have a system of bringing the workers into our country," he explained.

Anyone applying for an American visa should begin by taking the American Visa Bureau's online American visa application to see if they meet the basic legislative requirements.