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Advocates of immigration laws gather for a news conference outside the Capitol on Wednesday. More than 60 organizations from across Nebraska have joined forces to call for "commonsense" immigration reform as the state faces among the lowest unemployment rates in the country and its economy increasingly relies on an aging workforce . The coalition — which includes business, agricultural, labor, faith and refugee advocacy groups — gathered Wednesday on the west steps of Nebraska's Capitol after two years of behind-the-scenes organizing to call for state and federal policy changes that, they say, are long overdue.
Bryan Slone, the president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, warned that Baby Boomers are retiring in droves every year as the state's birth rate continues to decline. There are 2,000 more students enrolled in 12th grade in Nebraska than there are in kindergarten, he noted. People are also reading.
.. "If nothing else happens, this workforce issue may get considerably worse," he said.
"And in this context, unfortunately, our federal immigration laws are long out of date, need repair, and, frankly, changes need to be made soon to sustain our thriving communities." The Chamber of Commerce is among dozens of disparate groups that make up the coalition, dubbed the Nebraska Alliance for Thriving Communities, which called for an agreed-upon set of "commonsense" federal and state policy changes at Wednesday's press conference in Lincoln. Advocates of immigration laws gather for a news conference outside the Capitol on Wednesday.
Among federal policy changes the group called for: * Create a way for longtime community members to apply for permanent residency. * Create a way for "Dreamers" and refugees who have temporary protected status due to wars, disasters or other extraordinary conditions in their country to apply for permanent residency. * Increase and streamline family- and employment-based visas available for Nebraska’s long-term community and workforce needs.
* Discontinue the three-year, 10-year, and permanent bars to reentry that separate families and create barriers to applying for family-based visas. * Improve temporary visa programs by granting work authorization to spouses and working aged children of temporary, non-immigrant visa holders. * Eliminate the seasonal requirement for agricultural employers who employ immigrants under a program known as H-2A.
* Expand work authorization for those on student visas. * Reduce long wait times for work authorization for asylum applicants. * Increase immigration processing infrastructure and streamline the process.
The group also called for state policy changes to increase the availability of affordable housing, child care and transportation in Nebraska, which faces an affordable housing shortage . In fact, more than a third of resident who left the state in 2022 cited housing concerns as the primary reason for their move. Lina Traslavina Stover, executive director of Heartland Workers Center, speaks during a news conference advocating for immigration laws on Wednesday at the Capitol.
The alliance also called for the state to make its communities more welcoming for newcomers, both through tangible policy changes — such as investments in "New Nebraskans Centers" and the removal of red tape surrounding the transfer of professional licenses/certifications — and through a broader change in Nebraska's tenor toward immigrants. In 2017, Nebraska joined nine other states in a letter asking then-President Donald Trump to end the DACA program — a position the coalition has called on the state to reverse. Attorney General Mike Hilgers, a Republican, joined a lawsuit this year seeking to stop President Joe Biden's administration from extending the Affordable Care Act to people who are in the country illegally, declaring that " hardworking Nebraskan taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to subsidize big-government health plans for those who are here illegally.
" His remarks came less than a year after Republican Gov. Jim Pillen told would-be migrants to "stay on your side of the river" amid a trip to the the U.S.
-Mexico border. The Nebraska Alliance for Thriving Communities — which unites social justice advocacy organizations and competing industry groups under a single banner in the spirit of immigration reform — believes it can overcome such rhetoric, organizers said Wednesday. "This coalition is proof of why these conversations in Nebraska can happen and will happen," said Laura Field, the executive vice president of Nebraska Cattlemen, a policy advocacy group for state beef producers.
"You have groups that would probably never work together on anything — and even potentially be opposed to each other on issues — and we come together on this one to say: 'This is about a common interest of trying to come up with a solution.'" Advocates of immigration laws gather for a news conference on Wednesday at the Capitol. But getting the state's Republican leaders on board may be an uphill climb.
The Chamber of Commerce lobbied Nebraska's federal delegation to take action on incremental immigration reform as a means for addressing workforce issues more than a year ago at an annual gathering in Ashland. But the state's congressional representatives rebuffed the call in a panel-style interview at the gathering, insisting that reshaping the country's immigration landscape must start with securing the southern border. "Until we do that, it's going to be very, very difficult to bring sides together in the United States Senate in order to work on legal issues, to work on legal immigration issues, to be able to meet workforce needs," Sen.
Deb Fischer, a Republican, said at the August 2023 event . "As we stand now, no, I don't see that happening." Slone, who was among speakers at the 2023 event hosted by his organization, said Wednesday that the politics surrounding immigration reform haven't changed in decades — but the economics have.
"This workforce issue, in my personal opinion, will force Congress to act regardless of politics and whoever gets elected," he said. "So I truly expect within the first term of whoever is the next president, there will have to be some meaningful immigration reform to address the economic impact caused by the workforce. That is the new dynamic.
" But GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts, who echoed Fischer at the 2023 event, said Wednesday that things haven't changed for him. "My position is the same: that we need to secure the border first," he said.
Download the new Journal Star News Mobile App Top Journal Star photos for September 2024 Lincoln Christian's Brett Maher (14) sits in the locker room with his teammates ahead of the game against Auburn on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 at Lincoln Christian High School. First District Republican incumbent Mike Flood (left) and Democratic challenger Carol Blood debate on Sunday, Sept.
15, 2024, at Nebraska Public Media. Lincoln Bike Kitchen Executive Director, Shari Shanks, hangs bike pedals on hooks at the new Lincoln Bike Kitchen headquarters inside the old Muny Pool building Monday, Sept. 16, 2024.
The Lincoln Bike Kitchen accepts bikes in all conditions and will break unusable ones down for scrap parts. Gypsy Anton of Lincoln, 13, (from left) listen to music with her brother Silver Anton, 11, mother Jen Leonard, and sister Sophia Leonard, 12, during Porch Jam Sunday near Cooper Park. Nebraska's Ty Robinson (right) blocks a pass by Northern Iowa quarterback Aidan Dunne (10) in the second quarter on Saturday, Sep.
14, 2024, at Memorial Stadium. Volunteers Devin Flemming (left) and John Sjuts, of Lincoln, fill bags of food to distribute on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, at West Lincoln Elementary.
The Backpack program allows students in need to take backpacks full of food home. Nebraska's Jacory Barney (17) dances in the endzone as he celebrates scoring a second quarter touchdown against Northern Iowa on Saturday, Sep. 14, 2024, at Memorial Stadium.
Members of the UNL Army ROTC's Big Red Battalion climb the steps of Memorial Stadium during a silent stair climb in remembrance of those lost in the 9/11 attacks on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Lincoln. Starting at 6:00 a.
m., various members of the branches of UNL ROTC, first responders in the surrounding Lancaster areas, and former military members began a silent stair climb workout that involves climbing 2,071 steps, or about 110 flights of stairs. This was the number of stairs that were present at the World Trade Center, which first responders climbed in an effort to rescue people from the towers.
The cadets only count the stairs going up, not down. Representing those first responders who never got a chance to descend safely. Lincoln East's Raheem Popoola (13) leads his team out onto the field before the game against Grand Island on Thursday, Sept.
12, 2024, at Seacrest Field. Nebraska's Harper Murray (27) embraces Bergen Reilly (2) after scoring a kill against Creighton in the first set on Tuesday at the Devaney Sports Center. Nebraska's Tommi Hill (6) celebrates a pick-six during the first quarter of the game against Colorado on Saturday, Sept.
7, 2024, at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska's Jacory Barney (17) celebrates as fans rush the field after the game on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, at Memorial Stadium.
Terence "Bud" Crawford (center) takes the field next to Nebraska's Dylan Raiola (left) and Mikai Gbayor on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska fans storm the field after winning the game against Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska won 28-10. Police investigate the scene of a shooting Sunday in downtown Lincoln near 11th and P streets where one man was killed and another man was injured. While teammate Dante Dowdell (23) celebrates a touchdown with his teammates, quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) reacts toward the home sideline in the first quarter on Saturday, Sept.
7, 2024, at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska's Dante Dowdell (23) is tackled by Colorado's Shilo Sanders (21) on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Wahoo players pray in the locker room ahead of their match against Ashland-Greenwood on Friday, Sept.
6, 2024, at Wahoo High School. Lincoln Southeast's Zayvion Campbell (left), Lincoln Southwest's Nathan Mensah (center) and Southeast's Mason Mehta (right) dive after the ball in the end zone during the second quarter on Friday at Seacrest Field. The play resulted in a Lincoln Southwest touchback.
Ian Plumlee, of Lincoln, dances with his daughter, Josephine, 4, as Sandy Creek Pickers performs during the Nebraska Bluegrass Concert Series on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, on Nebraska Innovation Campus. Jeff Gold speaks after being installed as the University of Nebraska's ninth president during an investiture ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday, Sept.
5, 2024. Junior Dylan Zephier (center) dances with senior Jordyn Guse next to senior Helina Cooper (back left) and freshman Liam Hoffschneider during a Unified music class, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, at East High School.
Nebraska's Dylan Raiola walks in the Legacy Walk on Saturday outside Memorial Stadium. A great blue heron perches on a rock in the shallow water of Holmes Lake on Tuesday. Nebraska's Leyla Blackwell (11) throws a volleyball into the stands before the match against TCU on Saturday, Aug.
31, 2024, at the Bob Devaney Center. The Huskers run on to the field to kickoff the game against UTEP on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska's MJ Sherman (48) sacks UTEP's Skyler Locklear (9) during the first quarter of the UTEP game on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, at Memorial Stadium. Norfolk Catholic players line up on the field before during the game against Bishop Neumann on Friday, Aug.
30, 2024, at Bishop Neumann in Wahoo. Nebraska's Isaiah Neyor (18) catches a 59-yard touchdown pass while defended by UTEP's Jaylon Shelton (9) in the second quarter, on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska's Bergen Reilly (2) watches a husker light show as a highlight reel of last year plays before the match on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, at the Devaney Sports Center. New University of Nebraska-Lincoln students run out onto the field during the tunnel walk tradition at Memorial Stadium on Friday.
Lincoln Christian's Truman Paulsen holds the Spirit Sword after defeating Lincoln Lutheran on Friday at Aldrich Field. Framed through a children's play set, Jordyn Anderson, 3, pushes her friend Jordan Lara, 4, in a Cozy Coupe toy at the playground outside at Las Abejitas' location at First Lutheran Church on Friday. Las Abejitas, one of only two bilingual child care centers in Lincoln, is opening a second location at First-Plymouth Church in September.
Waverly celebrates after defeating Lincoln Lutheran in five sets Thursday at Lincoln Lutheran High School. Thursday afternoon's football game between Lincoln East and Elkhorn South was postponed due to weather. The teams will make up the game Friday at Seacrest Field.
Lincoln East's Deacon Gehle (from left) and Presley Hall practice passing back anf forth while waiting out a rain delay at Seacrest Field on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. From left, U.
S. Sens. Deb Fischer, Pete Ricketts, 3rd District Congressman Adrian Smith, 1st District Congressman Mike Flood and 2nd District Congressman Don Bacon attended the annual summit hosted by the Nebraska, Omaha and Lincoln chambers of commerce on Thursday at Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland.
Runners, including Tyler Pooschke (first left) and Mak Krause (right) are led by run lead Trevor White (first right) as they take off along the Billy Wolff Trail for the first-ever run held by the Telegraph Run Club on Wednesday. The new run club is meant to be a welcoming, open and free to any who wishes to join. Nebraska's Nash Hutmacher hands a football back to Henry Erikson of Beatrice, 8, and Brent Erikson during football fan day, Saturday, Aug.
24, 2024, at Hawks Championship Center. Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or [email protected] .
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