LOS ANGELES —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
Antonio Swad, founder and chief executive of Dallas-based Pizza Patrón, told the audience about the hate mail his chain received after the Hispanic-community-focused brand began its “Pizza for Pesos” promotion this year, accepting Mexican pesos in addition to U.S. dollars. —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
“In finding a solution, you need to understand the mentality of how people think,” he said. “Many of the letters began like this: ‘F-you people. Your time will come. Americans of all ethnicities take a back seat to illegals who are breeding at high rates. This is America, and we will fight for it. My family and friends will avoid your chain like small pox.’” —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
Immigration has become polarizing, with extreme groups on either side making it difficult to reach consensus on what needs to be done, said Jamie Hernan, managing partner of the Roswell, Ga., law firm Hernan Taylor & Lee. —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
“We need to eliminate the fringe elements from the discussion, which are killing the possibility of successful debate on this, and bring the middle part of America to the table,” Hernan said. “That’s big business, that’s association, that’s people coming forward and finally speaking out.” —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
Also participating on the panel was Richard Rivera, chairman of the National Restaurant Association and president of Rubicon Enterprises LLC, a restaurant development company based in Sarasota, Fla. Another panelist was Tom Fischer, an immigration consultant who had been a regional director in Atlanta of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. They were joined by Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C. —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
Industry lobbyist Rick Berman, president of Berman & Co. in Washington and a Nation’s Restaurant News columnist, moderated the discussion. —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
Krikorian said that if the country enforced the laws already on the books it would see a natural attrition of illegal immigrants. He also said low-skilled immigrant workers are a drain on society. —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
“There is an impression that we are running out of people and that the low-skilled worker is a precious resource and we’re running out of them,” he said. “Frankly, a 21st-century knowledge society does not benefit from importing high school dropouts.” —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
Rivera responded, “Don’t confuse degrees with capability.” —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
Rivera argued that although the industry attracts low-skilled workers, most don’t stay at the entry level and with training and education improve their skills and go on to become managers, owners and successful businessmen. —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
“They are risk-takers and want to work hard and improve their station in life,” he said. “I think we need more people like that in this country. We need to successfully assimilate these folks so they can become future leaders, and [the country] can be competitive with what’s going on in the Far East.” —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
He advocated offering undocumented workers in the country some form of “plea bargain” that would allow them to work legally. —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
The industry should keep in mind that there are millions of people vying to get into the country legally but are on 10-year waiting lists, consultant Fischer said. —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
“Congress…can change that,” he said. “All of a sudden you would see a large influx of people legally immigrate to our country and take some of these jobs.” —The volatile and emotional issues surrounding immigration and Congress’ failure to reform laws governing worker visas and deportation risks sparked intense debate during the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held here.
