winner will actually improve are there are many.
>> As the presidential campaign speeds toward the finish line,
political rhetoric coming from Donald Trump around immigration
and immigrants is more and more incendiary. What does that make
them feel like? The president of the company where Trump appeared
Tuesday and Waunakee responded to that question on behalf of
his largely Hispanic workforce. >> They're legal workers in this
country. Some are citizens, some are working on citizenship. But
but legal. They don't like being painted in that same brush for a
look at the state as a whole and its Hispanic workforce, we turn
to Jorge Franco, CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of
Wisconsin, and thanks very much for being here.
>> A pleasure to be with you, Frederica. Thank you.
>> So as to that question, what is it like for Hispanic people
in Wisconsin to hear Donald Trump's call for mass
deportation and how he refers to immigrants?
>> Well, you know, it's an election season. And I think
we've all grown accustomed, especially when you've been
around the block the way I have. You're all accustomed to the
rhetoric that that comes out at these times. You know, some some
take it over the top and, you know, when we think back on and
the first time he entered the race, he of course he entered
with a bang. If you remember the escalator, visit and I think
many were, were, you know, thoughtful about what was heard
at the time. And, and border security is very important to
all of us. You know, we as Hispanics are our concerns are
very similar to many others. Economy. You know, who doesn't
want a, you know, a good economy. That's a big focus for
us. But but we it's interesting. We've grown accustomed to what
we hear and it comes from both sides really. But and in our
case with the chamber, I should say we're a friend to everybody.
We don't pick one or the other or but we do. We do have our
opinions and we and we're smart about what's going on in the
economy. And we know how to navigate these things.
>> What is your message to Wisconsin about the importance
of our immigrant workforce, especially in dairy and
agriculture? economy. If immigrants were to
be gone tomorrow, just in no sectors. And we're not saying
that's the only sectors they work in. They're in
manufacturing. They're in many aspects of the many, many
sectors of the state economy. But just in those two alone, if
they were gone tomorrow, our economy would tank. We're so
dependent on the workforce. And just look at the numbers in the
last, you know, over the past year, I think we've been as high
as 10 million vacancies in in America. And of course, you
know, we're not the immigration cops at the Hispanic chamber.
And that's not of concern to us. We help anyone and everybody who
walks through the door, even non-Hispanics. But the point is,
if the Hispanic immigrants working in those two industries
alone were to be gone tomorrow, our economy in Wisconsin would
tank. We're so dependent on dairy and agriculture.
>> Are these workers in Wisconsin undocumented?
undocumented. We refer to them as unauthorized. But the answer
to that question is yes, there are there are many. And that's
not just in the United States. And then there are immigrants
who are authorized. They're refugees. And so it's a
complexity of issues that emerge and come up. But the big issue
is whether or not, you know, someone's taking somebody's job
away and that, you know, that those kinds of things under most
effective public policy can be addressed because we need the
human capital. It's just statistically what's going on in
in the US economy and certainly in the Wisconsin economy. And
our GDP would take a big hit absent that human capital today
that some call undocumented, what we call unauthorized
immigrants. The big issue is workforce. It's where are we
going to find workers. And of course, the Hispanic population
on average is youthful, 9 to 10 years younger on average than
the white population in America. And many people don't realize
that the unauthorized population, immigrant population
pays taxes. ultimate entrepreneurial act to
leave your country in search of work. How so?
>> Absolutely. If you think about it for a moment, you know,
we the Hispanic culture is highly entrepreneurial and we
have employers coming to us every day asking us to send them
Hispanic workers because of the Hispanic work ethic. And we
remind them, wait a minute, you understand we can't and you
can't decide on whether you hire somebody or not based on race,
religion, creed, color, whatever it may be. And you have to be
careful with that too. However, if you are interested in us
helping solve your workforce development issues, we can and
do do that. But it has to be done properly and in a
regulatory compliant manner. to the issue, you know, we're
we're we're talking about it. There are just the good news is
that there are solutions that could be implemented today. And
regardless of who wins the election, we hope to work with
those parties to get something put in place that works for
everybody. everybody.