By: Ashmar Mandou

In front of hundreds of business and civic leaders, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman launched the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition (IBIC), a new bipartisan proposal designed to pool together influential business leaders to help promote ‘common-sense immigration reform,’ on Monday at the Anne and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

“It’s time to put partisanship aside and focus on the economic contributions that immigrants have made throughout Chicago’s and our country’s history. We all agree that immigration doesn’t just promote our values; it creates value for our businesses, our residents, and our communities,” said Mayor Emanuel. “I want to thank the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition for demonstrating that what is ethically right for Chicago’s families is also economically smart for our businesses and residents.”

IBIC will be comprised of bipartisan business leaders, business groups, trade associations, and immigrant rights groups who will reach out to both parties in Congress to pass legislation that will link Illinois companies with both the high-skilled and low-skilled talent that they need, and promote the incorporation of immigrants into the economy as consumers, workers, and entrepreneurs with a passageway to legal status and full citizenship.
IBIC’s goal is to recruit over 1,000 small businesses and 300 of Illinois’ top corporate leaders to help promote immigration reform. Current members include, CEO of The Resurrection Project Raul Raymundo; CEO and Executive Director of Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Lawrence Benito; President of Castro Synergies, LLC Martin R. Castro; President and CEO of Sinai Health System Alan Channing; President and CEO of Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Omar Duque; and President and CEO of Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Patrick M. Magoon, to name a few.