Mooers Immigration » Jobs

Minimizing Harm

Mooers Immigration — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:16:55 +0000

Our first key element to a long-term immigration reform solution was to focus on maximizing economic benefit. Our second key element is minimizing harm to the US economy and to American workers. The first solution to minimizing harm is to maintain a rigorous labor market testing process for most positions, especially those requiring bachelor’s degrees or less, to ensure that capable American workers get first preference for positions.

The second part of the solution is to consider significant modifications to family based Green Cards to focus solely on spouses and children of US citizens and permanent residents. By eliminating parent and sibling preferences for Green Cards, Congress will reduce strain on entitlement programs since many or most enter the US as permanent residents in their retirement years after putting zero resources into US tax rolls or Medicare and Social Security trust funds. Moreover, in doing what is best for the US economy, Congress would put the US in line with other developed countries. No other countries provide an immigrant with the expectation of being able to turn around and sponsor parents and siblings for Green Cards. Parents and siblings should have the opportunity to visit the US, but Congress should explore whether or not it makes sense to allow them to become Green Card holders solely based on blood and not on skills or education.

Next, Congress needs to ensure that foreign workers do not enter the US to compete for jobs where there are already more than adequate numbers of US workers. Since Congress is ill-equipped to make determinations of US worker shortage areas based on objective criteria, the time has come for Congress to create an independent panel of experts whose job it will be to forecast sectors where numbers of US workers fall short and recommend how many foreign workers in that position are needed for the US economy. These experts come from government agencies, business, worker groups, and other key constituencies.

Finally, Congress will need to retain at least some limited temporary worker programs for unskilled workers. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on one’s perspective, there will likely never be a time when the US will have sufficient workers willing to perform all the so-called “dirty jobs” at the lowest rung of the job ladder that keep the American economy working. Workers at the low end of the economic ladder strive to move up that ladder—few are content to remain where they are—and this creates a continuous vacuum of unfilled unskilled jobs.

The Future Flow of Immigration

Mooers Immigration — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:44:42 +0000

On Sunday night, 60 Minutes aired a story about the 3 million jobs in America that remain unfilled because qualified applicants are unavailable. The fact that these jobs require skilled workers points to the fact that the US needs to bring in skilled workers from abroad or hope that enough Americans are willing to train for these positions. This challenge is at the heart of what will be a key debate in Comprehensive Immigration Reform regarding workers.

On the same day, a prominent Republican Senator discussed the need for a massive expansion of the temporary guest worker program. This will be the second element of the debate—i.e. should skilled workers come in on a permanent basis and eventually have a path to citizenship, or should the US instead limit their stay to a certain number of years, after which they must return home? This guest worker push is especially strong among conservatives with regards to unskilled jobs—i.e. the millions of so-called low-paying “dirty jobs” that are currently filled primarily by undocumented workers. Unions and immigrant rights groups detest the idea of guest worker provisions. Businesses appear neutral; what they want, many have told us, is a system that will allow them to access the workers they need for success. Be ready for a huge battle on this front.

Regarding investors, there seems to be common agreement that finding a way to bring new investment money into the US will be good for the economy and create more American jobs. However, because this is an area rife with potential fraud, it will not be an easy task to strike a balance between needed government oversight and entrepreneurial spirit.

Finally, when it comes to the future flow of immigration to the US, it is family related immigration that dwarfs the numbers associated with employment related classes. Great challenges and opportunities regarding the future flow of immigrants really rest in the family category. All sides agree on the need to and desire for preserving immediate family unity. A US Citizen or Permanent Resident should be able to sponsor their spouse and children. The trickier questions arise, however, about whether parents or siblings should be included in the equation. At a time of rising health care costs, crisis in Medicare and the Social Security trust fund, and provisions of Medicaid at the state level, the question arises of whether it makes sense for elderly individuals, who have paid nothing into the US system, to have the right to become a US Citizen simply because an adult child qualified for a Green Card. The same equation holds for brothers and sisters.

The important questions will be whether Congress has enough sense to get itself out of the allocation of numbers for Green Cards. In many countries, boards of experts determine a country’s needs and then adjust the immigration flow upward or downward to reflect the changing need. For instance, if it turns out that we have a massive shortage of skilled plumbers in the US, and it is important for our economy to have an infusion of plumbers to meet the shortage, it will be impossible for Congress to move deftly enough to meet the challenge. In many ways, this will be the stickiest part of the entire exercise related to immigration reform. How many foreign nations are admitted into the US, which categories, and from which countries, will determine the pace of America for generations to come.

Immigrant Entrepreneurs and the American Workforce

Mooers Immigration — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:25:04 +0000

Unemployment and immigration are at the forefront of this year’s election discussions. While immigrants are often accused of taking jobs from US workers, a recent study by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and the Partnership for a New American Economy suggests that the immigrant community is actually largely responsible for creating American jobs. The study, entitled “Immigration and American Jobs,” found that “from 2000 to 2007, an additional 100 foreign-born workers in STEM fields with advanced degrees from US universities is associated with an additional 262 jobs among US natives.” The study further states that there is “no evidence that foreign-born workers, taken in the aggregate, hurt US employment.” The entire study can be found on the Partnership for A New American Economy’s website:

http://www.renewoureconomy.org/sites/all/themes/pnae/img/NAE_Im-AmerJobs.pdf

In his Business Week article, “Fix U.S. Immigration Policy, Create Jobs,” Vivek Wadhwa, Director of Research at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, highlights the results of the aforementioned study and provides research of his own. He “found that in a quarter of the U.S. engineering and technology companies founded from 1995 to 2005, the chief executive or lead technologist was foreign-born. In Silicon Valley, the percentage of immigrant-founded startups was much higher – 52 percent.” The article also examines proposed legislation regarding immigrant employment and explores the length that other countries go to in order to recruit foreign-born entrepreneurs:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/fix-us-immigration-policy-create-jobs-01032012.html

The bottom line is that if we want job creators, we need immigration policies that enable us to recruit and support more of these risk-taking immigrants who work around the clock to build their American Dream.