Governor Snyder Acknowledges Immigrant Contributions from State Address

From the Alliance for Immigrants' Rights Lansing -

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder State of the State speech included nods to immigrants, keeping up the drumbeat for immigrants as job creators and innovators. Governor Snyder has repeatedly called for preserving high-level science, tech, engineering and math talent in Michigan by enacting immigrant-friendly policies that allow qualified students or entrepreneurs to stay in Michigan on special immigration visas.

The administration has also been historically friendly to the agriculture sector, a major employer of many immigrant and migrant families in Michigan. Early in his speech, Governor Snyder effused thankfulness to the farming industry, an industry which he heralded as "the second most [agriculturally] diverse in the nation." "[The industry] has been too often not talked about and forgotten, but they're critically important. They've been the unsung heroes of our economy, and that's the people in agriculture. Over the last decade they've been one of the shining lights for our state." The Governor stopped short of specifically thanking the migrant workers that feed the people of the state; data points to a population of anywhere from 50,000 to over 100,000. Later in the address, Snyder switched gears to labor. He called on the Federal government to create immigration opportunities for entrepreneurs and young people poised to fill high-talent, high-demand jobs, stop the outflow of population from the state, and/or establish new commerce in Michigan. "Having these individuals building businesses in Michigan would create new jobs for our citizens. Right here in Michigan we need to remember that immigrants were the founders of Dow Chemical, Meijer and MascoCorp." Governor Snyder's State of the State address was his second of office. Pundits, stakeholders and Michigan immigrants alike now must wait for the machinery of government to turn before seeing if progress toward fair immigration reform is truly forthcoming, but Snyder presented demonstrated willingness to tout these policies to a larger audience, and recognition of key immigrant groups in the state.