Alabama Employers for Immigration Reform, formed in March under the leadership of Associated Builders and Contractors and Alabama Poultry & Egg Association, has hired Birmingham law firm Bradley Arant Rose & White to help it analyze legislation such as an immigration bill being debated in Congress this week.

The group's co-chairman, Jay Reed of ABC in Birmingham, wants "responsible legislation" to address the immigration issue at a time when Alabama's jobless rate is at an all-time low.

"With 3.3 percent unemployment, it is increasingly difficult to find individuals able to pass drug and background checks or willing to take jobs in many of the industries in Alabama," Reed said. "Immigration labor has become an important part of Alabama's thriving economy."

A Birmingham union organizer said the use of illegal laborers has cost Americans jobs. Sean O'Donnell of Local 78 Heat & Frost Insulators in Birmingham, which represents workers that install insulation at building sites, said the construction industry's use of immigrant workers at below-market wages has depressed earnings for other workers.