Luis Gutierrez, a democratic congressman from Illinois, was arrested in front of the White House on Tuesday while staging a sit-in to demand that President Obama stop the deportation of undocumented immigrants. The president has come under fire from Rep. Gutierrez and other prominent immigration activists for supporting immigrants’ rights in rhetoric while his administration deports more undocumented immigrants than any other U.S. president.

Tuesday’s protest was not Rep. Gutierrez’s first foray into the immigration debate. The tenth-term congressman has been a leader in the fight for immigrant-friendly policies such as the DREAM Act. While Gutierrez and other supporters of progressive immigration policy recognize that President Obama continues to face strong resistance in passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR), particularly from Republicans, he feels the president should be held accountable for what he could be doing, but isn’t.
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At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security on Tuesday, Microsoft called on lawmakers to reform the immigration system in order to attract and retain high-skilled workers. Brad Smith, the company’s general counsel and senior vice president for legal and corporate affairs, said that “if done right, attracting the talents of the best and brightest from other countries can help, rather than hurt, prospects for American workers because in an innovation economy, jobs often beget jobs.” The hearing—titled The Economic Imperative for Immigration Reform—was presided by Judiciary Chair Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and was attended by other business leaders, higher education representatives and immigrant communities, as well as three American mayors.

Schumer and Subcommittee member John Cornyn (R-Texas) insisted on the need for high-skilled immigration policy in order to strengthen the U.S. competitiveness. Smith’s testimony before the Subcommittee echoed this sentiment, describing the needs of Microsoft. “Because of shortages and intense competition,” Smith said, “filling our talent needs remains a serious challenge. For example, in May Microsoft had 4,551 unfilled job openings, of which 2,629 were for computer science positions. In 2011, it has taken us on average 65 days to fill openings for experienced candidates in core tech positions in the United States. Our continued ability to help fuel the American economy depends heavily on continued access to the best possible talent.”
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On July 8 the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana celebrated Sunburst’s media’s launch of the first full-power Spanish language FM station in New Orleans—KXMG La Mega 107.5 FM. Civic and business leaders attended the event which took place in the new studios located on North Causeway Boulevard in Metairie, LA.

The creation of La Mega was spurred by the increasing Hispanic presence in Louisiana. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, Louisiana’s Hispanic population reached 162,000 by 2009—4 percent of the total state population. Native-born Hispanics represent 59 percent of this population and foreign-born Hispanics 41 percent. According to a press release circulated by Sunburst Media, “the demand for products and services used by Latinos has seen vast growth, and radio is no different. After investing several years into its Latino community, Sunburst Media noticed an opportunity it couldn’t pass up.”
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In a letter posted in the Bellingham Herald, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez highlighted the positive impact immigration reform would have over the U.S. economy. Echoing what other studies and economists have said in the past, Locke and Gutierrez insisted reform is a way to create jobs, retain talent, and promote entrepreneurship.

The letter began with an emphasis that: “America’s economic future depends on the strength and innovative capacity of our people. We must make the American workforce the strongest in the world.” Education and training for Americans, and the ability to attract foreign skilled people “with innovative capacity and entrepreneurial energy”—the U.S. secretaries said—are key policies to create the jobs of the future.
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