Labor-Intensive Industries
Statement on Senator Orrin Hatch’s Immigration Innovation Bill
Following the reintroduction of Senator Hatch’s Immigration Innovation Bill, New American Economy issued the following statement: “We need high-skilled immigration reform, especially as we face labor shortages in areas like engineering, medicine, and science,” said John Feinblatt, President of New American Economy. “But we also need a system that protects… Read More
Haitian-American Nurse Advocates for Protection of All Farmworkers
When Myrto Cesaire left the instability of her native Haiti in 1980, she took the first job she could find when she arrived in Florida. She became a cabbage picker. Although she only worked in the field for a few months, she found a lifelong calling… Read More
Without Migrant Workers, Texas Shrimp Trawlers Forced to Tie Up Boats
In 2007, Andrea Hance and her husband decided to buy a shrimp boat. The couple had stable careers in South Texas — he as a crop insurance agent and she as the owner of a mortgage company. But they were looking for a new challenge and were taken with the… Read More
Pastor: U.S. Economy Needs Low-Skilled Immigrants, Too
The Missouri Bootheel, in the far southeastern corner of Missouri, is not known for its immigrants, who account for just 1.3 percent of the population. But Sunday mass at St. Cecilia’s Parish in Kennett is full of foreign-born worshippers. Of the 250 families who attend the church, roughly two-thirds are… Read More
Welcoming Immigrants to Georgia Affirms Basic Values, Reverend Says
To the Reverend James T. Said, rector of Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church in Augusta, Georgia, and a member of the local Progressive Religious Coalition (PRC), advocating for immigration reform is deeply tied to his religion. “The Progressive Religious Coalition believes we should affirm the values of love, justice,… Read More
Without Migrant Workers, Summer Sours for Cape Cod Businesses
From April until Thanksgiving each year, a neon lobster shines out over the streets of Provincetown, Massachusetts, calling tourists to The Lobster Pot, where for the past 45 years Chef Tim McNulty’s family has been serving up lobster rolls, chowder, and other Cape Cod specialties to as many as 200,000… Read More
Young Advocate: Without Newcomers, Economy Would Not Survive
After his father’s cancer returned in 2016, Phillip Germain, then 18 and a college student, took care of him. It was a pivotal moment for the young man. His father’s care was contingent upon affordable healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Social Security. In short: public policy decisions… Read More
In America, Mississippi Lawyer Sees Strength in Diversity
In 2002, attorney decided to become a small business owner. He opened Schwindaman Law Firm, and — with the help of a full-time paralegal — now takes on about 70 cases a year. At least 80 percent are immigration cases, covering everything from citizenship and asylum issues to student and… Read More
Immigration Policy Hurting California Orchards
Santa Barbara County resident Rick Shade has been in the orchard business for generations, so he knows how time-sensitive the harvest is for crops like peaches, flowers, and lettuce. “When that stuff is ready, man, you’ve got to get it harvested today,” he says. “Not yesterday, not tomorrow — today.”… Read More
Immigration Reform Calls For ‘Complete Shift in Mentality,’ Says Georgia Lawyer
“I come from a very conservative family, but my parents raised me to believe we are all equal in God’s eyes,” says Ashley Deadwyler-Heuman, an immigration lawyer in Macon, Georgia. “Our horrific immigration court system treats many people without dignity or respect. Being able to level that playing field is… 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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