Current immigration policies harm San Joaquin Valley economy | Opinion

My small business is especially vulnerable to the economic pressure of a local economy that has been struggling due to fear of recent actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). We provide tax, insurance, legal services and immigration paperwork support for mostly immigrant clients who often face language and access barriers. This isn’t a small population: Around one in five residents in our region is an immigrant, and of those immigrants, about one in four is undocumented.

Over the past year, my clients have become afraid of the current immigration enforcement practices and many have withdrawn from daily life. Our legal services have slowed because clients are afraid to go to court, while many clients have stopped driving and some have sold their vehicles so they don’t need car insurance from us.

Additionally, our clients who have Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers for filing their taxes are worried about the possibility of the Internal Revenue Service sharing their information with ICE. We used to have over 1,000 clients for the tax side of our business, and we now have just 400.

My small business isn’t the only one hurting. Across the San Joaquin Valley, many people are afraid to go to work and earn money, as well as go out and spend money. This hurts our local small businesses that are also losing customers.

My clients who own restaurants, tire shops and other businesses that serve the Hispanic community have been hit especially hard. Many of these small business owners aren’t U.S. citizens, but they are green card holders who are proceeding through the immigration system and trying to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.

That’s why it’s so concerning that the U.S. Small Business Administration recently blocked green card holders from accessing any of the administration’s loans. This stops entrepreneurs from being able to access the capital they need to keep their businesses afloat at a difficult time for their business.

We cannot afford to continue on like this. I urge federal policymakers to come together and enact sensible bipartisan immigration reform, like Rep. María Elvira Salazar’s, R-Fla., Dignity Act. This legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to America as children and protects other eligible undocumented individuals from deportation.

The Dignity Act would give these immigrants the opportunity to work, repay back taxes and earn legal status. It also addresses long-standing backlogs and inefficiencies in our legal immigration process, giving U.S. employers access to the workforce they need to run their businesses.

While the Dignity Act hasn’t come to a vote in committee yet, the small business community supports the reforms included in it. Small Business Majority research found that 89% of entrepreneurs support modernizing the legal immigration system to reduce backlogs and make it easier for qualified workers to come into the U.S. legally.

Until policymakers address the current chaotic and harmful status quo on immigration, the San Joaquin Valley economy will keep shrinking, and more small businesses will be forced to shut their doors.

Reyna Medrano, the owner of Reyna’s Business Center and Insurance Services in Sanger, is one of the 85,000 business owners in Small Business Majority’s network.