Labor-Intensive Industries
New Report Shows Immigrants in Montgomery County Paid Over $219 Million in Taxes and Held Over $562 Million in Spending Power in 2019
DAYTON, OH, MARCH 15, 2022 – A new report, New Americans in Montgomery and the City of Dayton, by New American Economy — now the American Immigration Council — in partnership with the City of Dayton Human Relations Council (HRC), underscores… Read More
New Report Shows Immigrants in Southwest Kansas Paid Over $192 Million in Taxes and Held More than $595 Million in Spending Power in 2019
DODGE CITY, KS – A new report, New Americans in Southwest Kansas and Ford County, released today by New American Economy—now the American Immigration Council—in partnership with Dodge City and Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas, underscores the crucial role immigrants… Read More
Mexican Immigrant Family Finds Success in Ford County
Jesus Carlos RiveraFirst Generation Immigrant In 1993, Jesus Carlos Rivera, his wife and their four children, ages 12 through three, immigrated from their native Mexico to Dodge City. Rivera’s sister-in-law is a U.S. citizen and was already living in Kansas. She told the family that the United States… Read More
Italian Immigrant Becomes Owner of Auto Body Shop in New Jersey
Mario TommolilloOwner, Mario’s Classic Auto Body of Paterson On the morning that Mario Tommolillo arrived in the United States from Italy, his parents woke him up at 5 a.m. to see the Statue of Liberty. It was 1967, and the family entered New York harbor on the SS United… Read More
New Report Shows Immigrants in Northeast Ohio Paid Over $1.5 Billion in Taxes and Held $3.9 Billion in Spending Power in 2019
CLEVELAND, Jan. 21, 2022 — A new report, New Americans in Northeast Ohio and Cuyahoga County, released today by New American Economy—now the American Immigration Council—in partnership with Global Cleveland, underscores the critical role immigrants in Northeast… Read More
New Report Shows Immigrants in the City of Los Angeles Paid nearly $15 Billion in Taxes and Held More Than $38 Billion in Spending Power
Los Angeles, CA – A new report released today by New American Economy in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) underscores the crucial role immigrants in Los… Read More
Statement from NAE Executive Director Jeremy Robbins on passage of the Dream and Promise Act and Farm Workforce Modernization Act in the House
Following the House passing the Dream and Promise Act and Farm Workforce Modernization Act, New American Economy issued the following statement: “The bipartisan House majority that passed the Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act today shows that there is will in both parties to finally make… Read More
Peruvian American Helps New Orleans Rebuild, Mentors Young Construction Workers
There was no shortage of construction work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. But as thousands of migrant workers — many from Spanish-speaking countries — poured into the city, reputable local contractors who could maintain high standards amid the dizzying pace were at a premium. Among those who came… Read More
New Data Shows Immigrants Are 40 Percent of Business Owners in Dallas County
DALLAS, TX – Immigrants accounted for 40 percent of Dallas County’s business owners in 2017, according to new research from New American Economy (NAE) in partnership with the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce. In addition to their financial contributions, which included paying $2.8 billion in federal taxes and… Read More
Texas Tribune Opinion: Immigrant workers are why my health care business has grown
At Manchester Place Care Homes and Cambridge Caregivers, two senior care businesses that I co-own and operate in Dallas, we are aggressively hiring new employees. Business is up 75% year-over-year, which is fantastic, but our growth has created a big problem: There just aren’t enough job seekers to fill the 100-plus openings… Read More
Demographic Shifts
Over the last two decades, the size of the U.S.-born population with a high school degree or less has significantly decreased. This trend is particularly evident among young workers, ages 25-44, the group typically most capable of doing physically demanding work. As this population declined, however, the number of jobs for workers with that education level held steady. Thus, real and persistent gaps in the American workforce have opened up, especially in agriculture, hospitality, and meatpacking. Foreign-born workers—a group considerably more likely than natives to lack education beyond high school—step in to fill those jobs that would otherwise remain vacant.
Sources:
1 New American Economy, “A Crucial Piece of the Puzzle: Demographic Change and Why Immigrants are Needed to Fill America’s Less-Skilled Labor Gap,” March 2014. Available online.
2 Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix 2014-2024, April 2016. Available online.
Educational Breakdown of Foreign-Born and Native-Born Populations, 2014
Occupations Dependent on Immigrants
The foreign-born make up 16.5 percent of the working-age population in the United States. In some particularly labor-intensive fields, their role is much greater. From 2008 to 2012, for instance, immigrants made up 72.9 percent of field and crop workers. In other large industries, such as construction, foreign-born workers frequently take on the most physically demanding roles, while U.S.-born workers frequently prefer positions that require more English-language skills or experience in management or customer service. In fact, of the top 10 occupations with the largest share of immigrant workers, nine of them are labor-intensive in nature or involve repetitive, manual tasks.
Sources:
3 Author’s analysis of 2015 American Community Survey data.
Top 10 Occupations with Highest Share of Immigrant Workers, 20153
Help Wanted
Across communities and industries, employers report trouble finding enough workers. Between 2002 and 2014, the number of field and crop workers in America declined by 146,000, causing major labor shortages on U.S. farms. A rapidly aging population also strains the healthcare workforce, a problem likely to worsen as more Baby Boomers retire. In many fields, immigrants can and do help businesses find the workers they need to compete and grow.
Sources:
4 “2016/2017 Talent Shortage Survey: The United States Results,” ManpowerGroup, n.d., Available online.
5 Home Care Pulse. “2015 Private Duty Benchmarking Study.” April 2015.
6 New American Economy, "International Harvest: A Case Study of How Foreign Workers Help American Farms Grow Crops – and the Economy," May 2013. Available online.
Jobs Americans Won’t Do: Evidence from the North Carolina Farming Industry, 20116
The Impact on American Workers
Although long a controversial issue among academics and policymakers, there is widespread evidence that the presence of more immigrants with relatively low levels of education does not substantially displace U.S.-born workers. Instead, a greater supply of less-skilled immigrants is linked to a decrease in offshoring7 and an expansion of firms on U.S. soil8—resulting in net benefits for U.S.-born workers across the board. The unique way in which immigrants frequently slot into the workforce—gravitating toward more manual or repetitive tasks—also means an influx of less-skilled immigrants has only a moderate impact, if any, on the wages of less-educated U.S.-born workers, particularly over the long term. Instead, they compete most directly with other immigrant workers.9
Sources:
7 Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano, Giovanni Peri, and Greg C. Wright, “Immigration, Offshoring and American Jobs," National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2010. Available online.
8 William W. Olney, “IMMIGRATION AND FIRM EXPANSION,” Journal of Regional Science 53 (2013), doi:10.1111/jors.12004.
9 Heidi Shierholz, “Immigration and Wages: Methodological Advancements Confirm Modest Gains for Native Workers,” February 4, 2010. Available online.
10 Ibid.
11 Findings come from an NAE report that examines the benefit of a one standard deviation increase in birthplace diversity among workers in the bottom half of all earners in a given workplace or metropolitan area. More details can be found in the full report, available here.
12 Based on an analysis of 1998-2008 data; William W. Olney, “IMMIGRATION AND FIRM EXPANSION,” Journal of Regional Science 53 (2013), doi:10.1111/jors.12004.
Estimated Impact of Immigration on the Wages of Less-Educated Workers, 1994-200710
Wage Impact Felt by Employees in the Same Workplace or City When the Lowest Paid Workers Become More Internationally Diverse11
Number of New Establishments that are Created when the Share of Less-Educated Immigrants in a Metropolitan Area Rises by 10 Percent12
Costs of a Farmworker Shortage
In 2014, more than 56 percent of entry-level farmworkers in the United States were immigrants. Given this, changes in immigrant labor supply tend to ripple across the U.S. agriculture economy. In the last decade, a 75 percent slowdown in the arrival of young, low-skilled immigrant farmworkers meant shortages for entry-level field and crop positions. Many farmers report that the H-2A visa program, which allows the recruitment of foreign-born farmworkers, is too cumbersome and expensive—leaving them few ways to replenish their workforce. The result is many farms cutting their production of fresh fruits and vegetables.13
Sources:
13 “NCAE Survey of 2010 H-2A Employers - Final Summary," National Council of Agricultural Employers, December 2011. Available online.
Decline of Field and Crop Workers in Key States, 2002-2014
Inadequate Visa Programs
Although immigrants already help fill gaps in the U.S. labor force, our current immigration system does not allow employers to recruit enough of the specific workers they need. Employers can sponsor low-skilled workers for an agricultural visa (the H-2A visa), or for a visa designed to meet seasonal demand at venues like hotels, amusement parks, and ski resorts (the H-2B visa). Both programs, however, are cumbersome and outdated. And many of the fields that struggle the most to find workers, including healthcare and construction, lack a dedicated visa altogether. Improvements must be made so more industries—and specific geographies—can recruit temporary foreign-born workers when no Americans are available for the job.
Sources:
14 “NCAE Survey of 2010 H-2A Employers - Final Summary, "National Council of Agricultural Employers, December 2011. Available online.
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