FLORIDA EMPLOYERS FOR IMMIGRATION AND VISA REFORM -F.E.I.V.R.

Florida Employers for Immigration Visa Reform are working toward educating the public and Florida's congressional delegation on the negative impacts that Florida employers and workers are facing in the wake of post 9-11 visa and immigration policy.

Florida's foreign visitor and business base is being eroded from unintended consequences of post 9-11 federal immigration and security policy. The result: fewer foreign tourists, investors, students, and hospital patients will visit Florida, resulting in a multi-million dollar losses in tax revenue for the state and a growing loss for Florida companies engaged in international business.

Florida's economy will continue to decline if a comprehensive immigration and visa policy reform bill is not passed in the 110th Congress.

The short-term cost is great, yet the long-term impact without reform will be catastrophic to Florida's economy and hence our domestic security.

We can't just build walls around a broken system we need to fix the system to make sure we achieve real security, restore law & order and have enough workers to continue growing our economy.

On February 22, 2007, Florida business leaders, visa policy and immigration experts met at the Center for Competitive Florida (CCF) at Florida TaxWatch Immigration Summit.

CCF provided leadership to enable taxpayers to understand the impact that US immigration and security policies are having on key economic sectors within Florida, which was clearly outlined by the subject matter experts addressing the Summit. This coupled with information shared by Florida-based Summit participants in the breakout sessions provided a specific understanding of the unintended consequences of our federal policy on Florida's economy and its taxpayers. Florida is losing millions of dollars to our economy, which in turn affects our physical security.

The outcome of this Summit is the creation of the Florida Employers for Immigration and Visa Reform (F.E.I.V. R). Summit participants have organized FEIVR and reached out to other business leaders across the state to bring a personal message to Florida's congressional delegation to push for comprehensive immigration and visa reform and stop the staggering losses to Florida's economy. FEIVR members include businesses that cross all industries representing each major area of Florida.