Immigration parole has added 450,000 workers
to industries with critical labor shortages

The Biden Administration’s recent use of immigration parole authority has proven not only a compassionate response to people seeking safety and refuge, but has also had the unintended effect of helping the U.S. economy address severe labor shortages in 2022.

Immigration parole authorizes government officials under the guidance of the Administration to allow, case by case, individuals to temporarily enter the U.S. and receive temporary protection. This is particularly useful in light of ongoing restrictive policies, such as Title 42 or the proposed asylum ban, which make entering the U.S. and applying for relief nearly impossible for many people seeking asylum. Immigration parole is a timely, legal immigration tool that has let the U.S. extend urgent humanitarian relief to individuals fleeing some of the world’s most dangerous situations, arriving by air or walking by foot to seek safety for themselves and their families in the U.S.

Immigration parole is granted if immigration authorities determine there are “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” Paroled individuals may enter the U.S. legally, be protected from deportation, and, in certain circumstances, can apply for work authorization. In recent years, the Biden Administration has exercised parole authority to admit some individuals fleeing war and dangerous conditions. After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Operation Allies Welcome was responsible for the rapid relocation of more than 75,000 Afghans in 2021 and 2022. Families and communities across the U.S. have welcomed Afghan families with generosity. Similarly, in 2022, the Uniting for Ukraine parole policy permitted some 115,000 Ukrainians to enter the U.S. after they were sponsored by U.S. individuals at their own expense. The U.S. also paroled some individuals arriving at the southwest border seeking asylum, but who were ineligible to enter the U.S. because of Title 42.

While parole is intended to provide relief to people seeking safety, it also benefits the U.S. as these adults bring an array of talents and skills that they can contribute to U.S. communities. Thousands of carpenters, medical workers, and manufacturers, among many other skilled individuals, have been admitted into the U.S. through immigration parole in recent months. With work authorizations available through immigration parole, these skills, among others held by those granted parole, can be used to contribute to U.S. communities in a variety of vocations. New FWD.us estimates show that people recently granted parole—largely from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Latin American countries—have had a profoundly positive impact on our economy, particularly at a time when worker shortages have contributed to soaring inflation. These results affirm that smart immigration policy can provide vital relief, promote order, and benefit the U.S. all at the same time.

FWD.us estimates some 450,000 paroled adults who entered the U.S. in 2021 and 2022 are likely working in industries with labor shortages, with some of the highest numbers occurring in construction (93,000), accommodation and food services (70,000), retail trade (53,000), professional and business services (51,000), manufacturing (49,000), transportation, warehousing, and utilities (49,000), and healthcare (31,000). With about two open positions for every unemployed person in the U.S. during most of 2022, these individuals have met an economic need that will likely persist for years, all without displacing American workers.

ADULTS GRANTED PAROLE ARE CONTRIBUTING TO INDUSTRIES WITH WORKER SHORTAGES
Estimated number of paroled adults during 2021 and 2022, by likely industry of employment

Consequently, paroled adults entering the U.S. workforce by the start of 2023 contributed to about 25% of the decrease, on aggregate, in total job openings in these shorthanded industries since the labor shortage peak in 2022. Although the direct link between the filling of job vacancies by paroled adults and more tempered inflation rates cannot be made, it is likely that newly arrived individuals helped to ease inflation through workforce expansion in these industries challenged by labor shortages.

This exercise of humanitarian parole authority during the past two years not only provided refuge for those needing protection, but simultaneously met an economic need in our country. While we have continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for goods and services have increased dramatically, causing significant labor shortages. These historically high job openings were filled in part by adults who were admitted through parole, allowing people across the U.S. to continue accessing vital care in medical centers, dine in restaurants, enjoy vacations, build homes, and buy groceries.

Following the success of the Uniting for Ukraine policy, the Biden Administration is permitting people in the U.S. to sponsor individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) for humanitarian parole. The Administration will permit 30,000 people to enter from this combined group of countries each month in 2023, for a maximum of 360,000 this year. After the implementation of this parole policy, Customs and Border Protections reported that encounters of individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, or Venezuela between ports of entry at the southwest border fell from an average of 1,231 per day in January to only 46 per day by the end of February, a 98% decline.

FWD.us estimates that some 170,000 adults anticipated to be paroled into the U.S. through the CHNV parole policy will likely work in industries experiencing current labor shortages.