November 6, 2012. A CNBC report explains the differences between the two presidential candidates on issues relevant to business owners, citing FPI’s study of immigrant business owners.
Immigration
Obama: Has expressed the need to continue to secure America’s borders and hold businesses accountable that break the law by undermining the American workforce and exploiting undocumented workers. Legislation would allow immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children to apply for work permits. This could increase the number of small business buyers on the market as a recent study by the Fiscal Policy Institute found that 18 percent of small business owners are immigrants, up from 12 percent in 1990.
Romney: Opposes amnesty programs and has called for self-deportation policies that would make it difficult for illegal immigrants to find work and assimilate with society. People would have the choice to go back to their country of origin or get in line legally to become a citizen of the country. Romney w ould, however, honor the Obama administration’s illegal immigrant work permits and not seek to deport them, helping boost the number of potential business buyers on the market.