Restaurant Industry Pushes for Immigration Reform Citing ‘Chaos’ From Trump Enforcement Drive

A leading restaurant industry group is calling for comprehensive immigration reform in order for struggling restaurants to survive and prosper in the coming months.The appeal tops a list of three policy priorities identified by the National Restaurant Association in a statement on Thursday. The restaurant and food service industry is the nation’s second-largest private employer, with more than 15.7 million workers.The lobbying group says restaurant owners will need to hire an estimated 100,000 workers in the coming year, something that will be difficult unless more people are allowed to enter America legally.The association says nearly a quarter of today’s restaurant workers are immigrants and that the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement measures are creating “uncertainty and chaos” in that workforce in many parts of the country.In a new survey, 25 percent of operators said their restaurants have had trouble hiring and retaining employees and 18 percent said they are having problems with employees not coming to work.The trade group says legal immigration can be the backbone of economic growth and prosperity for the industry, which contributes more than $3.5 trillion to the national economy annually with more than 1 million outlets serving communities nationwide.“Reform is not just a policy priority — it’s an economic imperative,” the executive vice president of public affairs for the association, Sean Kennedy, said in the statement. “That is why we are focused on comprehensive immigration reform that includes protection for the industry’s current workforce, a fix for the work visa system, and a modern immigration system for the future.”Another priority for the restaurant industry is lowering America’s credit card swipe fees, which are the highest in the industrialized world. The organization says that processing credit card transactions is the third largest operating expense — behind food and labor — for most restaurant operators.The association is advocating for passage of the Credit Card Competition Act, legislation aimed at driving down swipe fees by creating competition in the credit card processing market that is dominated by Visa and Mastercard.The third priority is helping the industry to overcome soaring food prices, which are up 37 percent since 2020. That has driven profit margins down by a third to below 4 percent for full service restaurants.The group says the renewal of a trilateral trade agreement between America, Mexico, and Canada is crucial. Mexico and Canada are the top suppliers of imported food and beverages for American restaurant operators. The association says the trade pact helps keep food and beverage products affordable and guarantees access to the year-round products.“We encourage the administration to maintain the agreement and avoid new tariffs to help keep menu prices and operator costs in check,” Mr. Kennedy said.The agreement, negotiated by President Trump in 2017, is up for a long-term renewal on July 1 but Mr. Trump is considering pulling America out, Bloomberg reported last week, citing unnamed officials.

Restaurant Industry Pushes for Immigration Reform Citing ‘Chaos’ From Trump Enforcement Drive

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