3| Immigrants already in the U.S. could immediately fill hundreds of thousands of open jobs
Adding workers to the labor market, including immigrants who are already in the U.S. but whose ability to work is limited by their status, would help reduce labor shortages and lessen inflationary pressures.
According to FWD.us analysis, immigrants could immediately fill nearly 400,000 open jobs if common-sense, bipartisan immigration measures were passed by Congress.
Estimated number of potential workers already living in U.S., by industry
Industry | DACA-eligible but without DACA | Advanced degree international graduates | Adult Children of backlogged immigrants | TOTAL FILLED JOB OPENINGS |
Mining and logging | 2,000 | 1,000 | <1,000 | 3,000 |
Construction | 42,000 | 1,000 | <1,000 | 43,000 |
Manufacturing | 32,000 | 10,000 | 3,000 | 45,000 |
Wholesale trade | 8,000 | 1,000 | <1,000 | 9,000 |
Retail trade | 37,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 | 41,000 |
Transportation, warehousing, utilities | 15,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 17,000 |
Information | 4,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 |
Finance and insurance | 13,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 20,000 |
Real estate, rental, leasing | 4,000 | <1,000 | <1,000 | 4,000 |
Professional and business services | 34,000 | 22,000 | 7,000 | 63,000 |
Education services | 16,000 | 7,000 | 2,000 | 25,000 |
Healthcare and social assistance | 37,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 45,000 |
Arts, entertainment, and recreation | 5,000 | 1,000 | <1,000 | 6,000 |
Accommodation and food services | 40,000 | 1,000 | <1,000 | 41,000 |
Other services | 19,000 | 1,000 | <1,000 | 20,000 |
Total | 308,000 | 63,000 | 20,000 | 390,000 |
Note: All non-farm, civilian, non-governmental industries listed, regardless of current job opening rates.
DACA estimates are based on DACA-eligible individuals who are unable to access DACA due to court injunction and would likely be in the labor force if there were legislation. Industry distribution is based on current DACA recipients.
Advanced degree estimates are based on the anticipated size of
international student graduating class of advanced degrees
wanting to stay in U.S. to work. Industry distribution breakdown is based on temporary immigrants with advanced degrees.
Adult children of backlogged immigrants estimates are based on anticipated size of graduating class of temporary visa holders aging out from parent’s temporary visa status. Industry breakdown is based on temporary immigrants with H-1B, J, O, P, R, and TN visas.
Source: FWD.us analysis of augmented 2019 American Community Survey data.
Establishing a pathway to legal status for Dreamers who are currently prohibited from accessing DACA alone would add some 300,000 workers. Ensuring that such a pathway also includes children of immigrants in green card backlogs would add another 20,000 workers. Congress could also revive recent bipartisan proposals to retain international students graduating from U.S. colleges and universities with advanced STEM degrees, adding another 60,000 or so skilled workers next year. Most of these potential workers are finishing their studies or are on the sidelines of the labor force until they can receive work authorization.
Congress could also open a broader pathway to citizenship for the some 7 million undocumented immigrants already in the labor force but without work authorization. Expanding access to lawful employment for this workforce, which represents 4% of all workers in the U.S. economy, would not only provide certainty for them and their families, but also for their employers.
Restoring timely processing for immigration applications being reviewed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would unlock even more workforce potential. Roughly 8.5 million applications are pending with USCIS, more than 5 million of which have waited longer than the agency’s processing time goals. This includes more than 1.5 million requests to receive or renew work permits, nearly 800,000 green card applications, and roughly 740,000 naturalization applications. The pending caseload grew by 2.8 million over the course of the pandemic. While not every application represents a new worker, there is no doubt that reducing this backlog would mean more people getting to work more quickly. If Congress granted USCIS’ funding request, the backlog could be eliminated by 2026 at no extra cost to taxpayers.