We the undersigned businesses call on Sens. Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham to include an adequate worker-visa program in any comprehensive immigration reform bill.

As employers who create businesses and contribute to the U.S. economy, we need a realistic and usable work-visa system. Whether our job openings are for high-skilled, low-skilled, long-term, temporary or seasonal employees, we need a program that allows us to hire the workers we need to sustain and grow our businesses.

Of course, in the last few years, fewer immigrants have been coming to the U.S. in search of work. But even in today’s down economy, many of us still need immigrant workers to keep our businesses open. And any reform must be flexible enough to address all market conditions – boom and bust.

In good times and bad, foreign workers complement the native-born labor force and, by keeping businesses open and growing, support American jobs. An inadequate supply of skilled or unskilled workers would choke the economic recovery and hinder our ability to create jobs.

We applaud you, Sens. Schumer and Graham, for your leadership on immigration reform. And we strongly urge you to craft a reform bill that meets the workforce needs of American employers.

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