Bob Horning is a financial advisor and the responsible governance co-chair of the Los Angeles County Business Federation.
Now might seem like the worst time to call on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Over the last two decades, efforts to provide orderly pathways to residency and citizenship and improve border security have failed – and in far less politically polarized environments.
President George W. Bush invested major political capital in reform efforts from 2005 to 2007, including a bipartisan Senate push that ultimately collapsed under factional pressure. In 2013, the Senate easily passed a bipartisan bill that died in the House. Even the 2024 bill that focused on border security and asylum processing failed.
Polarization has only worsened since then, and the immigration debate today has more to do with restraining the Trump administration than fairness, economic vitality or legal modernization. That context has grown more volatile following the killings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renée Good by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
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But it is precisely this dangerous situation that makes comprehensive immigration reform more urgent. The deaths of Pretti and Good underscore the human cost of a system Congress has repeatedly failed to fix. We are living with the consequences of the unfinished business of 2005 and 2013.
The answer is not to retreat, but for Congress to muster the political courage to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The good news is, there’s a bipartisan bill in the House that deserves support.
California, where immigrant labor is deeply embedded in construction, agriculture, logistics, healthcare and hospitality, has long paid a steep price for failed immigration reform. The situation is much worse now: In the weeks after the Trump administration stepped up its enforcement actions in California last May, the state saw a 3.1-percent drop in private-sector employment, according to researchers at UC Merced. This is a shock comparable to COVID-era labor losses, with immigrant-heavy industries and mixed-status households hit hardest.
Paul Thornton
Inaction on immigration reform isn’t just a political failure; it is an accelerating economic crisis for California. This summer, an article in the Los Angeles Times laid out some of the real-world economic consequences of the immigration raids:
Nella McOsker, chief executive of the Central City Association, reported sharp declines in downtown Los Angeles foot traffic and retail activity. George Carrillo of the Hispanic Construction Council said project delays have surged, slowing everything from wildfire rebuilding to critical infrastructure maintenance across California. In Artesia, Mayor Ali Taj decried “horrific” sales tax losses for local governments.
These are just a few real-world warnings from California that outdated immigration policy is destabilizing jobs, raising prices, hitting tax revenue and diminishing community vitality. Fixing this instability will require a modernized immigration system.
This isn’t just about fairness; it’s also about good business sense. Reform that includes clear legal pathways to employment, earned legal status and streamlined visa processes for new immigrants would strengthen businesses of all sizes, particularly small and mid-sized employers that cannot absorb constant workforce disruption.
Mariel Garza
Recognizing the urgent need to balance border security with economic stability, the Los Angeles County Business Federation has endorsed the Dignity Act of 2025, a bill introduced by Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (a Florida Republican) and Veronica Escobar (a Texas Democrat).
The act addresses visa backlogs, updates student visa policies, speeds asylum adjudications and requires modest restitution payments by undocumented immigrants seeking legal status. Importantly, it funds these reforms largely through participant fees rather than imposing new taxpayer burdens. Six members of the California congressional delegation, including Democrats and Republicans, are co-sponsoring the bill.
More members of Congress from California should take the advice of State Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) to prioritize federal immigration reform. She has said this would not only stabilize key industries, but also restore order and fairness to a system that has been broken for decades.
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Supporting the Dignity Act also makes political sense. With Democrats widely expected to retake the House after the midterm election in November, early bipartisan co-sponsorship would give California lawmakers greater influence to shape the bill’s final content and ensure that the legislation reflects the state’s needs. In a moment of intense polarization, visible cross-party leadership from California can help the Dignity Act avoid the fate of past reform efforts.
This election year also presents a rare political opening. Voters are signaling fatigue over chaos and polarization; if lawmakers respond with courage rather than fear, comprehensive immigration reform could finally pass.
The choice now is whether Congress will repeat the failures of the past or seize a historic opportunity to end a crisis created by decades of inaction.
