Foreign born workers have always played a substantial
role in the American economy.
In 2019, there were twenty eight point four million
migrant workers in the U.S.
labor force, accounting for over 17 percent of the
total labor force.
So in the last three decades, half of the increase in
labor force in the United States has been because of
immigrants and their children.
The second statistic says in the next three decades,
almost all of the increase in labor force would be
because of immigration.
However, President Trump's immigration policy has set
limits to the number of both legal and illegal workers
in the United States.
On June 22nd, President Trump signed an executive
order suspending the entry of certain types of
temporary foreign workers into the U.S.
until 2021.
They're going to press pause on a lot of these visas
for foreign workers coming into the United States
because of the high unemployment rate in the United
States. They say senior administration officials
saying they want to see a America first economic
recovery that starts with Americans.
Big tech companies, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft
use H-1B visas.
Analysts say any restriction or increase in salary
requirements could result in big tech sending more
jobs offshore.
However, activists who support less immigration feel
it's a win for American workers.
Voters are seeing that President Trump is taking action
on an issue they care about, which is making sure that
our immigration system does not disadvantage
Americans. So how does banning work visas impact the
U.S. economy?
On April 21st, President Trump first announced a 60 day
pause on the issuance of new green cards.
It specifically included potential immigrant workers
and relatives of green card holders in an effort to
limit competition for jobs in the United States during
the coronavirus recession.
By pausing immigration will help put unemployed
Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens so
important. After record breaking jobs increases in May
and June, President Trump extended the April
proclamation until the end of the year on June 22nd,
reporting that the proclamation freed up roughly 50000
jobs for American citizens, along with the extension
the Trump administration also expanded the order to
include nonimmigrants signing an executive order to
freeze five work related visa categories until
December 31st.
The five targeted visas include the H-1B visa for
workers in highly specialized occupations, the H-4
visas for spouses or children of H-1B holders, the H-2B
visa for nonagricultural low skilled workers, the J1
visa for work and student exchanges, and the L-1 visa
for intra company transfers.
A new revision to the proclamation on July 16th,
however, allows dependent family members to apply for
a visa as long as the primary visa holder currently
resides within the United States.
There are a couple of reasons why those particular
categories were selected for the suspension.
One is because these are the largest guest worker
programs that we have.
And the other reason is that these are some of the
most problematic in terms of both fraud and also
displacement of U.S.
workers. The order also specifically applies to visa
applicants from abroad, while those currently within
the United States can still apply for any temporary
work visas. Supreme Court has said that the president
has the power to limit entry into the United States
because that is listed clearly in the Constitution.
But, for Trump to stop immigration within the United
States work status or a green card from being approved
on within the United States, that can be easily seen
as overstepping his power.
I think the president was looking for a balance between
wanting to make sure that there are opportunities for
Americans and legal immigrants who have already come
and not stressing our labor market at this particular
time and also recognizing that it could be disruptive
to employers who have already hired and trained
these workers who are here today.
A lot of people who enter the U.S.
do so without a visa through the waiver program with
38 partner countries and Taiwan, which allows travel
to the U.S. for up to 90 days.
However, any foreign citizen who does not apply
through that program or wishes to stay longer must
obtain a visa that's appropriate for their situation.
There are almost two hundred and sixteen different
types of visas offered in the United States.
They're separated into two main categories immigrant
visas and nonimmigrant visas.
So nonimmigrant visas are generally temporary in
nature. So that means you're at some point going to
leave the United States. But immigrant visa means
you're coming to stay.
All non immigrant workers seeking employment in the
U.S. must first obtain a temporary work visa that
allows them to stay in the country for a fixed period
of time. Many of the permanent immigrants are also
they first came here as temporary immigrants.
So temporary immigrants are the primary source for
permanent immigration and that in the long term,
you'll also see temporary immigrants becoming a much
bigger source of labor force in the U.S.
economy. Temporary work visas have long been the
subject of scrutiny under the Trump administration and
those who support reducing immigration into the U.S..
The problem is that our existing temporary work visa
programs and even the permanent green card programs
are not bringing in necessarily uniquely qualified
best in the brightest type workers that they are
bringing in workers who have worked for companies that
were able to bypass American workers and exploit the
visa system to enhance their own profits.
Alternatively, immigration advocates suggest that
temporary work visas are working exactly as it should.
Studies show that in the first 10 years of their
arrival, 30 percent of foreigners actually leave.
And among temporary workers, a much larger proportion
leave. Those who do well, those who assimilate well
stay here, those who don't do well go back.
And that's the kind of system we really want.
The ban on temporary work visas will have a significant
impact on the American economy.
Temporary immigrants may not be more than two or three
percent of the labor force, but they are critical in
many sectors. And if temporary workers are a source
for permanent immigration, that permanent immigration
would be affected by.
The Economic Policy Institute also predicts that the
extended April proclamation will reduce the number of
immigrants receiving green cards by nearly a third
compared to those received in 2019.
Although foreign born workers only account for
seventeen point four percent of the total workforce,
pro immigration experts argue that they play a vital
role in the American economy, working in jobs that
Americans are not willing to do or just aren't capable
of performing. Immigrants do not displace native
workers. They replace native workers in the sense
that, for instance, in the agriculture sector, a lot
of those jobs natives are not willing to take.
And it's not just the agriculture sector, but also in
many high skilled professions.
Also, for instance, doctors, they are about 30 percent
of all doctors in the U.S.
are foreign born. Those that advocate for less
immigration suggest otherwise.
No, there there is no such thing as a job an American
won't do. Particularly in this pandemic shut down when
we have tens of millions of Americans who are either
temporarily or permanently lost their job.
And we're looking at something like at least 10
percent unemployment.
You really can't make the case that there aren't
Americans available to do these jobs at this
particular time. Bans on some visa types are also
expected to impact certain sectors more than others.
For instance, a ban on H-1B will likely have a
detrimental impact on the tech sector that relies
heavily on foreign talent.
The tech industry is one of the most prolific users of
the guest workers.
They there are tech companies that have built an entire
business model as staffing companies on bringing in
workers from abroad to offer at cheaper rates to do
what is really entry level or more routine work, not
requiring any special skills, but being able to
provide these workers at lower cost.
Despite its intention to save more jobs for the
American people, some experts argue that the ban could
do more harm than good, citing a positive correlation
between immigration and economic growth.
Temporary workers are a very tiny component of the U.S.
labor force. I don't think it's more than three
percent. I think maybe two percent at the most are
temporary workers.
And then they are critically in certain industries.
They are not a huge component of all the industries.
And then these workers themselves create a lot of
jobs. Immigrants also pay more than 90 billion dollars
in taxes every year while receiving only five dollars
billion in welfare, according to the ACLU.
Experts also believe that blocking immigration could
also allow other countries to gain a competitive edge
in the global market.
The best and the brightest from all over the world come
here have historically come here to the United States.
And that's to our benefit, right?
Because they come here, they get a degree and many
stay. They're the ones that start the tech companies
and other companies that drive economic growth going
forward. And if they don't come here in the wake of
this crisis, if they're scared to come here, then
we're just not going to have they're going to be
making starting those companies in the countries from
which they came in, not here in the US.
If immigrants are not allowed to work here or if
temporary workers are not allowed to come to the US,
companies will move to Canada so that they can bring
these temporary workers to Canada.
So America's loss would be Canada's gain in the short
term. In the long term, these companies might move to
China. So the workers might decide to China, where
there's a lot of high tech workers going on.
So America's loss would then be China's gain.