ICYMI: Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chairs Discuss Workforce Shortages, Opportunities for Bipartisan Immigration Reform

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chairs Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Tom Suozzi (NY-03) joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to discuss opportunities for bipartisan collaboration on immigration, border security, and workforce. 

• SUOZZI: "One of the number one issues in America right now is border security. We need to tie in the border security issue and the need to fix asylum with the need to address legal immigration and put these three together…At some point soon, the Republicans will need the Democrats to help them, and there's going to have to be some reaching across the aisle. It could come sooner than we think – maybe on March 14th with the expiration of the [continuing resolution]."
• FITZPATRICK: “We have to come to an agreement on the statement that having a smart immigration policy is not only important to U.S. economic security – it’s very important to national security."
• SUOZZI: “It has been 40 years since we’ve done anything real on immigration. We need to take advantage of this unique moment in history…to fix the border, fix the broken asylum system that's contributing to the broken border, and to improve our legal immigration system and legalize a lot of folks that have been here for a long time.”
• FITZPATRICK: “Tom and I are uniquely situated to really advance this ball. Tom is a Democrat who supports border security. I’m a Republican who voted for the DREAM Act. We’re coming at this from a very, very unique perspective. I recognize as a Republican the critical need for immigrants to come to this country, not only [asylum seekers], people legitimately fleeing oppression — that’s what America is about, that’s what built our country — but also attracting the best and brightest people to help our industries. And Tom is a Democrat who understands the importance of border security. We all grew up in our families, in our childhood, taught that if you work hard and play by the rules, you get ahead. And if you cheat and cut the line, you’re punished. Basic, fundamental principles of fairness. We need to marry those two together because right now they’re in two different silos and they’re not being discussed together.”
• SUOZZI: "We need to build a coalition of business, badges, and the Bible. Business that sees this economic reality of what we need to do. Badges, the law enforcement needs, recognizes that this needs to be solved at the federal level – it can’t be solved at the local level. We need to support law enforcement by supporting law and order at the border itself, not forcing it into local communities. And the Bible, to say let's treat people like human beings.”
• FITZPATRICK: “Every single ‘deal’ has collapsed in our lifetime because you have too many people that allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. If they can’t come to one hundred percent agreement, the whole thing falls apart. What area of our life works that way? It’s not how our personal relationships work. It’s not how we manage our businesses. So why does the government work that way? Why can’t we figure out the eighty-five percent of stuff we agree on and get it done?”
• SUOZZI: “We have this amazing skilled population, as well as an unskilled population in essential jobs, that have been living in the shadows. Whether it’s the Dreamers or the TPS recipients or farmworkers or health care workers or other people that are essential to our economy, we have to figure out how to make them more fully productive in our society and bring in more legal immigrants in the process.”
• FITZPATRICK: “This is my number one priority, along with Tom…As someone who just wants to get things done, I don’t like excessive meetings, excessive chatter. There’s got to be action, there’s got to be a deliverable at the end of every conversation. This has been frustrating to me because real people are being hurt, real businesses are suffering.”

Watch the full event here.