U.S. Hotel Industry Takes Stance on Pending Immigration Reform

Members of the American Hotel & Lodging Association were invited last week to join leaders from other business groups at a meeting with President Bush at the White House to discuss issues involving immigration reform. Also in attendance were Vice President Dick Cheney, White House Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez.

The meeting comes at time when the White House and lawmakers in Congress are at odds over the issue.

The White House favors a reform including a guest worker program that would ease access to the U.S. job market for millions of immigrants. However, lawmakers in Congress are pressing for tougher immigration legislation that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, would emphasize border control instead of a guest worker program.

The Senate is expected to bring such legislation to the floor for a vote in the coming weeks.

Immigration reform is a hot-button issue with the hotel industry, which often employs immigrant workers. Overall, the lodging industry in 2004 employed more than 1.8 million people.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an additional 300,000 employees will be needed by 2014. With the U.S. population growing older and unemployment rates dropping, many industries are expecting to face an employee shortage in the near future.

The hotel industry favors a guest worker program that would include temporary, seasonal workers hired when no Americans can be found and support full-time jobs that are held by Americans. AH&LA said the lodging industry as a whole pays more than the minimum wage for entry-level workers, plus benefits, and some properties pay as high as $8 or $9 per hour to start.