“We are still evaluating the situation, but until the present the impact of the May 1st strike doesn’t seem to have had a significant impact on our industry”, said Debra Nelson, spokeswoman of MGM Mirage Inc., a company that runs casinos in Las Vegas, such as Bellagio and MGM Grand, where employees were allowed to have the day off.

On the other hand, casinos operated by Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. registered a little employee absence, but most worked normally, according to David Strow, spokesman of the firm, who also assured that a significant number of workers in their casinos in Las Vegas are “immigrants from all over the world”.

Groups of commerce representing the gaming and hotels industry have publicly been asking for changes to the immigration laws, in order to assure the continuous access of legal labor force.

Las Vegas casino operators, together with the Unite Here union (which represents almost 95,000 workers from hotels in North America) asked on Monday for a legislation to provide “clear ways to get the citizenship”, the reunification of the families, and plans for the workers’ future incomes.