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One new proposal could cost employers $12 billion in compliance
How important is immigration to the business community? Very. On Mar. 16, Bill Gates trekked to Capitol Hill to tell key leaders of both parties that immigration is Microsoft's No. 1 issue in Washington. "If we hope to maintain our economic and intellectual leadership in the U.S., we must renew this commitment,"

Gates said in an earlier letter to lawmakers. "Unless there is reform, American competitiveness will suffer as other countries benefit from the international talent that U.S. employers cannot hire or retain."

Both Sides Now
Gates and his fellow CEOs have good reason to be nervous. Politicians in both parties are seizing on public concern about 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. to craft legislation limiting cross-border mobility for skilled and unskilled workers alike. And while corporations are accustomed to anti-business potshots from the Left, they are now fighting a defensive battle against angry populist Republicans who want to seal the border and punish companies that employ illegals. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Representative Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) won a standing ovation for skewering companies that profit from imported labor. "The conservative movement can either be the voice of principle or it can be the voice of the Chamber of Commerce," Tancredo roared. "But it cannot be both."

Facing rhetoric like that, 

many corporations feel pressured. By opposing the GOP's anti-immigrant faction business runs the risk of ushering in more Democrats in the 2006 elections. But Tancredo and his allies pose a more immediate threat to business' long-term need for a steady stream of foreign workers.

The immigration hardliners want serious penalties to make businesses think twice before hiring immigrants. Legislation approved by the House in late 2005 would make it a felony for businesses to hire illegal workers: Companies that incorrectly fill out certain paperwork on employees could be fined up to $25,000. "It doesn't take too many of those [fines] to drive a small business out of business," says John Gay of the National Restaurant Assn. 

Read More at Businesweek

Written by Richard S. Dunham

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