Business & the Workforce
Declining Cities Look to Immigrants to Revitalize Economies and Increase University Enrollment
In a recent speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg highlighted the vital role immigrants play in stimulating economic growth. Bloomberg called for immigration policies that “spur innovation, increase the number of entrepreneurs who start businesses here, and create jobs for Americans on every rung of the economic ladder." With U.S. unemployment still hovering around 9%, some declining U.S. cities are also looking to harness the economic and entrepreneurial power of immigrants. Small towns, particularly in America’s rust belt, are contemplating programs that attract immigrant growth in hopes of revitalizing their towns and universities. Read More
Despite Lamar Smith’s Claims, E-Verify Is Not a Jobs Bill
BY TYLER MORAN, NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER While Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) promises that his mandatory E-Verify legislation (HR 2885) is a jobs creation bill, the mark-up of the bill in the House Judiciary Committee last week proved that it is anything but. Though the bill passed the committee by a 22-13 party line vote, the debate in committee and amendments offered make it crystal clear the bill would actually yield job losses. The debate leading up to the committee mark up also shows just how fractured conservatives have become on this issue—and much of it focuses on concerns over jobs. In fact, an unlikely coalition of progressive and conservative organizations joined together to oppose the bill, turning a host of job arguments upside down. Read More
Immigrant Laborers Continue to Strengthen American Workforce, Economy
This Labor Day, we reflect on the many contributions workers make to the U.S.—including those of immigrant workers. While immigration restrictionists have long tried to demonize immigrant workers and blame them for high unemployment rates and other economic woes, the facts make it clear that immigrants actually create jobs and businesses and boost the wages of native-born workers. Research shows time and time again that immigration levels are positively correlated with economic output and growth. Read More
Washington Farmers Fear Economic Impact of National E-Verify Bill
Much like farmers in Georgia who are experiencing labor shortages due to HB 87—the state’s new immigration law which mandates use of E-Verify—growers in Washington state fear that a similar, national E-Verify bill will have a devastating economic impact on the state’s agricultural workforce. This week, the Washington Growers League said that a national E-Verify law would prohibit many of the state’s current farm workers from harvesting crops, which would in turn devastate the industry, slashing production and forcing consumers to buy produce out of state. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced the mandatory E-Verify bill (the Legal Workforce Act or H.R. 2164) back in June. Read More
DHS Acknowledges that U.S. Immigration Policy Needs to Spark Economy and Attract Entrepreneurs
By PAUL ZULKIE, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL Yesterday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas announced a series of policy initiatives designed to “fuel the nation's economy and stimulate investment” by attracting foreign entrepreneurs who can invest in fields of high unemployment, create jobs, and form startup companies. It is encouraging that USCIS recognizes that immigrant entrepreneurs and innovators are a key to continued growth and to maintaining America’s competitive edge into the 21st century. It’s important that the agency keep this recognition in mind as it adjudicates visa petitions and applications. Read More
Microsoft, Experts Stress Need for High-Skilled Immigration in Senate Committee Hearing
While the House Judiciary Committee focused on a very different part of immigration yesterday, its Senate counterpart held a hearing on “The Economic Imperative for Enacting Immigration Reform.” In the hearing, witnesses testified that immigration reform that makes it easier for high-skilled immigrants to come work in the U.S. is not only good policy, but an economic necessity. Brad Smith, General Counsel and Senior VP for Legal and Corporate Affairs at Microsoft testified that smart immigration reform could create more jobs for American workers, something the economy needs as our nation struggles to recover from the recession. Read More
Research Shows Immigrant Entrepreneurs Leaving the U.S. to Become Our Competition
Restrictionists often perpetuate the myth that immigrants are not needed in our current economy—that they take jobs and hurt American workers. But research has shown that immigrants not only grow the economy, but help create jobs and are part of the solution to our economic woes. However, while immigrants can create jobs and start new businesses here in the U.S., they’re choosing to do it somewhere else in recent years due to our complicated and dysfunctional immigration system. Read More
Immigrant Entrepreneurs May Speed Up Our Economic Recovery
As America’s economic recovery continues to be a national priority, leaders on both sides of the aisle are finally beginning to look at reforming our nation’s immigration system as a strategy for promoting job creating and growth. President Obama commented in his State of the Union Address that instead of expelling immigrants, we should make it easier for them to start new businesses. This Monday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) commented that “if bringing in high-skilled workers from abroad helps us keep thousands of jobs here in America, our antiquated laws should not be a barrier.” And in a bipartisan effort last week, Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Mark Udall (D-CO), and Richard Lugar (R-IN) introduced the StartUp Visa Act of 2011 (Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has also joined as a co-sponsor). The bill is intended to “drive job creation and increase America’s global competitiveness by helping immigrant entrepreneurs secure visas to the United States.” Read More
House Subcommittee Tries to Propagate Myth that Immigrants Steal Jobs
Today’s House Subcommittee hearing on Immigration Policy and Enforcement, clumsily entitled “New Jobs in Recession and Recovery: Who Are Getting Them and Who Are Not,” was clearly intended to sow fear. In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Elton Gallegly (R-24th/CA) wasted no time in sounding the alarm that unemployed native-born workers are being left to twist in the wind as immigrants gobble up the few new jobs which have become available since the end of the Great Recession. Yet the preponderance of the evidence presented during the hearing failed to support that conclusion. Read More
New Study Finds Low-Skilled Immigration Has Negligible Impact on Wages of Native-Born
Earlier today, Public Policy Professor at Georgetown University Harry J. Holzer presented his new report, Does Low-Skilled Immigration Hurt the US Economy? Assessing the Evidence. Contrary to the myth that “immigrants steal American jobs,” Prof. Holzer concludes that low-skilled immigration likely has little to no effect on most U.S. workers, though changes in immigration policy would obviously alter the effect. While admitting that wage depression is an issue for low-skilled native-born workers, Holzer insisted that immigration contributed very little, if at all, to this effect, and that “we’ve been scapegoating [low-skilled] immigrants for little reason.” Read More
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