Regional Immigration Policy for Pittsburgh

Check out the good news here. The KDKA report has interviews with local immigration boosters such as Vivisimo CEO Raul Valdes-Perez and Pittsburgh Technology Council President/CEO Audrey Russo. There's a print version of the story here:

According to the Pittsburgh Technology Council, there are 1,900 unfilled engineering and technical jobs in the region which they say could be filled by new immigrant residents if visa restrictions were lifted.

"If we don't attract and retain people who are foreign born, the work is going to get done somewhere else. It is and it's not going to be here. And if it's not going to be here, we're not going to be able to thrive," Audrey Russo, from the PTC, said.

The immigration debate is heating up again nationally with the Obama administration vowing to take the issue head-on.

Locally, the mayor and chief executive are meeting with immigration groups to craft a new regional policy towards immigration.

It's about time ...