Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the founder and chairman of Mexico’s Grupo Salinas (owner of Television Azteca), on Tuesday paid an express visit to New York City to kick start a special edition of the New York Forum, which this year focuses on two main topics: Immigration and U.S.-China opportunities. Introduced as one of the “most outspoken voices of the Mexican community,” Salinas was joined by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to discuss the thorny issue of immigration.
Bloomberg, a staunch defender of immigration reform, spoke loud and clear about the need to reform a broken system, and blasted Washington for being “more focused on reelection” than on fixing policies that are only hurting productivity and making big corporations take their investments elsewhere.
Bloomberg pointed at Bombardier’s decision, for example, to pick Mexico -and not the U.S.- for the construction of a manufacturing plan for its Learjet 85 -the largest aircraft to bear that famous marquee.
“There is this myth of masses of people crossing the border at night,” said Bloomberg. "But it's just that: A myth! Most undocumented workers are here with overstated visas; and 75% of them pay taxes… Just because they have to; the companies withhold their taxes and then there’s no place to send the refund.”
Salinas took a relatively more moderate approach, suggesting for example, that countries shouldn’t treat all immigrants equally. “There should be a sort of fast track to approve work visas for those entrepreneurs who come to the U.S. to set up a business and create jobs,” he said. For the owner of TV Azteca, Azteca America, Iusacell and Banco Azteca and others Mexican companies, a globalized world means products travel through borders in the same way labor should. “When you go into a Walmart and see a bunch of things Made in China… at the end, that is nothing but labor,” he said.
“But God forbid if some people dare to cross the border. Then, that’s considered dangerous!”
The discussion was framed by the release Tuesday of a new report by the Partnership for New York and the Partnership of the New American Economy: The report tracks the decline of immigrant workers in U.S. and recommends actions, including give out more green cards based on economic merit; the implementation of more programs to allow temporary, foreign workers and to not impose a cap on H1B visas, among other recommendations.
Broken System
While mayor Bloomberg is known for speaking loudly against the current system, and Salinas is a tad more careful picking his words, both agreed on one thing: The current immigration system is broken, but there is little consensus in Washington on how it should be fixed.
“It’s time for Washington to restart the conversation on immigration reform – and to center it on the country’s economic needs,” said Bloomberg.
