CBS19, DESIREE MONTILLA

Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-7th) hosted a town hall with the community at Germanna Community College in Orange County Sunday to talk to people about the issues they’re facing in the community.

The town hall is part of Spanberger’s goal to host town halls in the counties she represents.

During the town hall on Sunday, people asked Spanberger about a variety of issues including foreign affairs, agriculture, and immigration.

Ovidiu Bota asked Spanberger about how they can help immigrants apply for jobs in the area if they don’t have all the documentation.

Bota owns a small business in Orange County that focuses on cleaning services, home maintenance, and repairs.

He said his business would thrive if they could hire more immigrants in the area instead of bringing employees to the United States from overseas.

“The biggest challenge as a business owner is to hire people,” Bota said. “Because the economy is in good shape, and God Bless America for that, it’s very hard to find workers to apply for jobs.”

Spanberger addressed his question with the work she’s supported to help immigrants in the United States with the Dream and Promise Act.

“Which would provide a pathway of certainty for those young people who were brought to this country as children by their parents, who have known this country as their home and were given protection to under the prior administration,” Spanberger said.

Spanberger also said the issue of immigrant workers is a big topic she has heard from people in the past.

“The challenges we are facing related to immigration don’t just impact the individuals who just seek to come here as immigrants, but they impact the employers who are interested in hiring,” Spanberger said.

With his story, Bota hopes Spanberger can be a catalyst of change for immigrants and businesses.

“Maybe find a solution and those people who are already here,” Bota said. “I could hire them tomorrow or a month from now, without spending so much time finding others and spending so much money bringing them from other countries.”