Immigration and the Vail Valley
Vail Valley Partnership is a member of the Coalition for the American Dream. The Coalition for the American Dream is an organization of business leaders representing every major sector of the U.S. economy pursuing a bipartisan, permanent legislative solution for Dreamers. Our membership includes more than 100 employers and trade associations spanning a variety of U.S. industries, from retail to manufacturing to tech, that represent more than half of American private sector workers.
We urge the new Congress to act immediately and pass a bipartisan, permanent legislative solution to enable Dreamers who are currently living, working, and contributing to our communities to continue doing so. With the re-opening of the federal government and the presumptive restart of immigration and border security negotiations, now is the time for Congress to pass a law to provide Dreamers the certainty they need. These are our friends, neighbors, and coworkers, and they should not have to wait for court cases to be decided to determine their fate when Congress can act now.
Studies by economists across the ideological spectrum have determined that if Congress fails to act, our economy could lose $350 billion in GDP, and the federal government could lose $90 billion in tax revenue. Thus, continued delay or inaction will cause significant negative economic and social impact to businesses and hundreds of thousands of deserving young people across the country.
We have seen time and again that the overwhelming majority of Americans of all political backgrounds agree that we should protect Dreamers from deportation. American employers and hundreds of thousands of Dreamers are counting on you to pass bipartisan, permanent legislative protection for Dreamers without further delay.
Since the start of the Trump administration, workplace enforcement actions have increased 5-fold. No longer is the focus merely on compliance within the frame of I-9 regulations, but the government is also focused on compliance surrounding the hiring of temporary seasonal workers. Now, coupled with a constricting visa processing system and aggressive removal practices, the constraints on foreign workers and the companies that employ them have never been more challenging.
Join us on Tuesday, April 9 as we partner with Vail Symposium to discuss immigration and the local impacts, specifically How to Protect Your Business and Advocate for Workers with guests Jonathan Grode and Amy Novak. The program will explore what employers can do to ensure compliance and help lobby for an expansive use of business-based visas.
Jonathan Grode serves as the practice director for the firm Green and Speigel. Grode has continuously worked in the U.S. business immigration law field since 1999 and has amassed considerable experience obtaining nonimmigrant and immigrant visas for new company start-ups, professional workers, artists and entertainers, athletes, physicians and scientific researchers. Grode also has significant experience dealing with Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security enforcement actions as well as with EB-5 Investor filings.
Amy Novak founded the Novak Law office in 2005. Focusing on employment and family immigration, her firm has built a reputation for working extensively with clients to deliver successful results. Novak also heads up the Colorado office for the renowned law firm Green and Spiegel. As a leading national speaker and expert on temporary employment visas, she is responsible for their nationwide H-2B practice.
Immigration policy impacts the Vail Valley in many ways; we hope you can join us as we explore this topic in detail on April 9. Learn more and RSVP at VailSymposium.org or VailValleyPartnership.com