With Inauguration Day approaching, prominent religious and labor union figures who want an overhaul of immigration law have high hopes for their cause.
Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles and John Wilhelm, president of the hospitality workers section of UNITE HERE, joined with others Thursday to urge President-elect Barack Obama to start negotiating a change this year.
"We need a just resolution to a public debate that is dangerously corrosive and will only worsen with inaction," Mahony said in a telephone news conference. "To continue to delay action will increase tension in states and localities."
UNITE HERE, one of the fastest growing U.S. unions, organizes workers, many of them immigrants and ethnic minorities, in businesses ranging from garment factories to hotels and casinos.
"I don't think it's possible to fix the economy without comprehensive immigration reform," Wilhelm said.
The union leader said he believes immigrants have always fueled U.S. economic growth and filled legitimate labor needs. But he said the country needs a new immigration system that can better manage and admit workers legally to fill labor shortages.
Wilhelm urged offering an earned legalization program to an estimated 12 million undocumented workers. He said it would help increase all workers' bargaining power and boost tax collection.
"In the interest of the economy, we've got to bring the 12 million out of the shadows," Wilhelm said.
Groups that oppose legalizing the undocumented are also gearing up to pressure Obama and Congress.
Arguing that legal immigrants threaten Americans' jobs, especially during a recession, Washington, D.C.-based Numbers USA announced Thursday it plans a letter-writing campaign calling for a timeout on legal immigrant workers.
In a letter to Obama, the group said that "families are unlikely to feel the impact of your job-creation plan … because of our current immigration and visa policies."
Janet Murgia, president of National Council of la Raza, a civil rights group, responded that most Americans are "tired of naysayers" on immigration issues.
She and others are buoyed by Obama's statements of support for immigration reform and Cabinet appointments such as Los Angeles-area Rep. Hilda Solis, Obama's nominee for secretary of labor.
On its Web site, UNITE HERE calls Solis, the daughter of Mexican and Nicaraguan immigrants who were union supporters, "a proven advocate."
Call The Bee's Susan Ferriss, (916) 321-1267.
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