As activists gathered from all over the nation to rally in Washington D.C. on the issue, the National Restaurant Association reaffirmed its strong support for action on comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. Congress.

The restaurant and foodservice industry is the second largest private sector employer in the U.S. with 12.7 million employees, as well as one of the largest private sector employers of immigrant workers. The Association estimates the number of jobs in the industry will grow by 1.3 million over the next 10 years.

‘Our nation’s 945,000 restaurant locations and their millions of employees have much at stake in this effort, and it is critically important that the Congress continues to work to address this important national issue,’ said Scott DeFife, the Association’s Executive Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs. ‘We commend the President and Senators Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham for their leadership in attempting to move this vital issue forward.’

‘The Association continues to support comprehensive reform that strengthens our borders; provides a way for employers to hire from abroad when U.S. workers are not available; creates a reasonable solution to the undocumented in the United States; and establishes a verification system that is effective, inexpensive and reliable, and does not unfairly penalize employers,’ said DeFife. ‘We will continue to work with members of both the House and the Senate to ensure passage of workable comprehensive immigration reform in this Congress.’

The National Restaurant Association has been extremely active in the effort to achieve comprehensive immigration reform, serving as co-chair of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, which includes more than 40 national businesses and trade associations seeking reform of America’s broken immigration system. For more information, please visit the EWIC website at: www.ewic.org.

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