Immigration Reform Focus Of DC Trips
Oklahomans press for immigration reform in Washington
By Chris Casteel
WASHINGTON — Craig Parker has 10 positions open at the Silver Star Construction Co. in Moore that he could fill quickly with illegal immigrants.
But the company verifies citizenship and has had to turn away applicants for positions as truck drivers, concrete finishers and asphalt plant workers. Meanwhile, he and his competitors are facing labor shortages in Oklahoma, where the unemployment rate is among the lowest in the country, he said.
“It’s not a glamorous industry what we do,” Parker said Tuesday as he stood outside Rep. James Lankford’s congressional office. “We pay well, but it’s still a labor position.”
Parker, the vice president of the company, was part of a large group of Oklahoma business executives, Republican Party activists and evangelical leaders on Capitol Hill to talk to U.S. House members about immigration reform.