American Business Immigration Coalition

Advocacy

The American Business Immigration Coalition has advocated for left-of-center immigration policies it states will improve the American economy and national economic growth to counter declining birth rates and a shrinking domestic labor force. ¹

The Coalition advocates for four main immigration goals: “securing the border” and deporting criminal immigrants, developing a “competitive” immigration system that attracts high-skilled immigrants, establishing a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already living in the U.S., and creating a more efficient system for permitting American businesses to hire foreign workers. ^{1 3}

The Coalition supports expanding the H-2A visa program for temporary agricultural workers. ⁴

The Coalition supports “legal work permits for long-time immigrant construction workers who pay taxes and pass rigorous background checks.” ⁵

The Coalition supports expanding the Temporary Protected Status designation for migrants from unstable or dangerous countries. ⁶

The Coalition has advocated increased immigration to provide workers for the understaffed elder care sector of the U.S. economy. ⁷

The Coalition claims to have helped pass federal and state laws regarding promoting immigrant access to driver’s licenses, in-state tuition, health care, and legal services. ⁸

Finances

In 2023, the American Business Immigration Coalition earned $4,930,413, spent $3,955,230, and ended the year with $4,275,780 in assets. ⁹ According to tax records, the Coalition’s revenue in 2020 was $250,100, before rising to $3.6 million in 2021 and $5.2 million in 2022. ²

In 2024, the Coalition received a $600,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and in 2021, the Coalition received a $400,000 grant from Carnegie. ¹⁰

In 2023, the Coalition received a $7,000 grant from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. ¹¹

From 2022 to 2024, the Coalition received annual grants from Unbound Philanthropy. ¹²

In 2021, the Coalition received a $300,000 grant from the Ford Foundation “to promote immigration reform that supports the U.S. economy, provides U.S. companies with the high- and low-skilled talent needed, and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs and citizens.” ¹³

The Coalition has previously received funding from the Catena Foundation. ¹⁴

Leadership

Rebecca Shi is the founding executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition. She previously worked as the executive director of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition. She is a Chinese immigrant. ^{15 8} In 2023, Shi’s salary from the Coalition was $250,665. ⁹

Rovika Rajkishun worked as the deputy director of the Coalition from May 2021 to August 2023. Previously, she worked at the New York Immigration Coalition and concluded her time at the organization as an interim co-executive director. ¹⁶ In 2023, Rajikishun’s salary was $119,932. ⁹

Michael Deheeger has worked as the campaign director at the Coalition since April 2021. Deheeger previously worked as a senior congressional organizer and Chicago organizer at Jewish Voice for Peace. Earlier, he worked at Illinois Immigrant Action, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, AVODAH: The Jewish Services Corps, the New Trier Democratic Organization, and the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. ¹⁷ In 2023, Deheeger’s salary was $128,000. ⁹

Scarlet Watts was the director of development of the Coalition from October 2021 to January 2024. After leaving the organization, Watts briefly worked as the vice president of philanthropic engagement of the Doe Fund and then became the senior director of development at Girls for Gender Equity. Prior to working at the Coalition, Watts worked as the director of development at the New York Immigration Coalition, development director at HELP USA, and director of development at the Trevor Project. ¹⁸

As of August 2025, several of Coalition’s members include former Trump administration U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Ron Gidwitz, former Arizona state Senator Bob Worsley (R), former United Airlines chairman Glenn Tilton, former Robert R. McCormick Foundation president David Hiller, and Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO Monica Villalobo. ¹⁹