Star Telegram/Patrick McGee/[[March 22, 2007]]/ link

Describes the same press conference as Commerce chief defends raids

The U.S. secretary of commerce (Carlos Gutierrez) joined forces with a group of Texas businessmen Wednesday to amplify their call for immigration reform that would bring more foreign workers to the U.S.

...The news conference was hosted by Texas Employers for Immigration Reform, which formed in August to lobby Congress for legislation that would legalize illegal immigrants working here and open the doors for more workers to immigrate to the U.S.

...On Wednesday, Bill Hammond, chairman of Texas Employers for Immigration Reform, said crops will not be picked in South Texas and restaurants will not be built in San Antonio until more workers are brought in.

..."We are not going to produce enough workers, so we need to resort to immigration, and we need to have a legal way to resort to that immigration," Gutierrez said. "We need comprehensive immigration reform as soon as possible."