CNBC is among the latest to report on immigrant workers’ importance to the U.S. labor market.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, immigrant workers represented 18.6% of the workforce last year. Immigrants are working in sectors that have struggled to fill positions in recent years, such as agriculture, technology and health care.
Immigrants "are helping to bolster and helping us build back — they’re adding needed workers to the labor force," our President and CEO, Jennie Murray, told Rogers.
In April, the U.S. added 175,000 jobs, "signaling slower but steady growth compared to earlier this year," reports Lauren Kaori Gurley of The Washington Post. Immigration contributed to the ease of hiring in recent months, as 3.3 million immigrants arrived in the U.S. in 2023, per official data. , Kaori Gurley notes.
Meanwhile, Ohio economists surveyed by Scioto Analysis agree that an increase in the proportion of skilled immigrant workers has helped counteract "brain drain" in the past decade, reports Marty Schladen of the Ohio Capital Journal. And next door, the editorial board of The Republic in Columbus, Indiana, highlights the same theme.
"People come to America because they want a better life with the freedom and liberties to achieve their full potential," the board writes. "In turn, immigrants benefit the life of our communities. ... [W]e need them now more than ever."
Welcome to Monday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Ally Villarreal and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
‘PROSPER TOGETHER’ — A new study by economists suggests that immigration restrictions lead to a decrease of immigrant
workers, which has a direct impact on the housing construction sector, George Mason law professor Ilya Somin writes in a piece for . "The key point to remember is that the economy — including the labor market — is not a zero-sum game. Men and women, blacks and whites — and immigrants and natives — can all prosper together, if only the government would let them," Somin emphasizes.
FUTURE IN QUESTION — After deep cuts under the Trump administration, the U.S. has been rebuilding its refugee resettlement system since 2021. That could change again with the presidential election, reports Rebecca Santana of the Associated Press. "It’s a huge cloud. We feel like we may be running up against a cliff here," said Megan Bracy, resettlement director at Global Refuge. For now, , deputy assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, said the department has continued to bolster and streamline processing while maintaining rigorous screening.
EYES ON EUROPE — Anti-immigrant parties in European Union countries are gaining
traction, which "could lead to a hardening of immigration regulations Europewide, hostility to environmental reform, and pressure to be more amenable to President Vladimir Putin of Russia," analyzes Roger Cohen of The New York Times. Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's negative immigration narratives and other political tactics seem like "a template for the new right," Cohen notes.
EXAMPLE — States could learn from late Florida Governor Lawton Chiles (D) when it comes to immigration policy and enforcement, Mark R.
Schlakman, Gil Kerlikowske and Emilio T. Gonzalez write in a Tampa Bay Times op-ed. "Chiles was aggressive. He declared a state of emergency. He sued the federal government for failing to adequately enforce U.S. immigration law," they write. "And yet, he saw the distinction between state and federal roles."
P.S. In New York City, Queens soccer fields have become a place where immigrants find community. Check out the story by Raúl Vilchis of The New York Times.
