Small businesses call on Congress to fix our broken immigration system

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Small businesses across the country are feeling the economic impact of current immigration policies and actions, including changes to longstanding SBA lending programs prohibiting access to capital for legal permanent residents. Additionally, in many communities, increased immigration activities and ICE raids have led to fewer customers, lost sales and employees who are afraid to come to work. For many entrepreneurs like me, these challenges are creating uncertainty and instability that make it difficult to operate and plan for the future.

The impact is widespread. Small Business Majority’s research found that 47% of small business owners report that increased immigration enforcement has negatively impacted their business. ¹

As small business owners, we believe there is a better path forward. We support strengthening and modernizing the legal immigration system so that Main Street businesses can access the workforce they need. In fact, 89% of small business owners support immigration reform that modernizes the legal immigration system, reduces backlogs and makes it easier for qualified workers to come to the United States legally. Additionally, 87% support providing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. ¹

To address an immigration enforcement situation that has reached a point of crisis for many small businesses, we urge Congress to take the following actions:

• Pass legislation like the Strengthening Our Workforce Act (H.R. 5098) that provides pathways to legal status for qualifying undocumented immigrants and visa holders who are already contributing to our economy. The Strengthening Our Workforce Act would provide certain non-citizens working in healthcare, agriculture and emergency services with a pathway to legal status and stability in the workforce.
• Pass the Dignity Act (H.R. 4393), which would strengthen immigration laws while also raising outdated immigration caps and increasing the availability of high-skilled visas. These changes would help small businesses in industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and technology access the talent they need to compete and grow. 
• Require the Small Business Administration (SBA) to reauthorize lending access for legal permanent residents and small businesses with partial foreign ownership. Recent policy changes that bar green card holders from accessing SBA-backed loans create unnecessary barriers for entrepreneurs. Policymakers should restore longstanding SBA policies that allowed legal permanent residents and businesses with less than 50% foreign ownership to access these critical financing tools.

The bottom line is, we must modernize our immigration system to meet the needs of today’s economy. A modern, fair and functional immigration system would strengthen our workforce, support entrepreneurs and help local economies thrive. 

We urge Congress to act swiftly to enact practical, bipartisan immigration reforms that support small businesses and the workers who help them succeed.