OTOC Announces New Alliance That Supports Immigration Reform to Address Nebraska Workforce Gap

[Excerpts]

Omaha Together One Community (OTOC) leaders conducted more than 100 meetings over the past three years with Nebraska agricultural, health-care, labor, education, hospitality, philanthropic, faith, construction, immigrant, legal, banking, and community leaders to learn more about our workforce needs.

We learned [for example] that an owner of a dairy farm had been awake for almost 48 hours milking his cows because his short-term immigrant staff had to leave Nebraska when their work visas expired. We heard of immigrants with work visas who can come to the U.S. with their families, but their spouses and working-age children are not allowed to work....

According to a recent study funded by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce Foundation, 'There is universal and widespread business support for immigration reform as a means to address the workforce gap in Nebraska....'

As result of these meetings, a statewide non-partisan alliance has formed. The Nebraska Alliance for Thriving Communities includes leaders from across the state. This 70-member Alliance agrees on a common-sense set of immigration priorities to enrich our communities and address Nebraska’s workforce shortage.

[Photo Credit: John Moore, Getty Images]

Nebraska Needs Immigrants, Nebraska Examiner [pdf]