As our country continues efforts to recover from recent economic struggles, this is a critical time to find ways to grow. A simple answer with tremendous economic impact is available: immigration reform.
Our current immigration laws were created decades ago, and the time has come to re-evaluate our system and stop missing the growth opportunities that are limited by our immigration laws. This is why I went to Washington, D.C., with the Partnership for a New American Economy this month. The partnership, along with other organizations such as the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, organized an effort to take over 300 people to Washington to talk to lawmakers about the need to pass reform legislation this year.
As the state’s largest industry, Arkansas agriculture accounts for nearly one quarter of the state’s economic activity that equates to $16 billion. The need to pass reform this year is clear.
Visa limits are problematic for low-skilled labor as well. Arkansas has a uniquely diverse agricultural industry with crops, rice, poultry and fruit. We need increased access to temporary workers to assist in these industries currently lacking the necessary labor force.
The immigrant work force also helps us retain and create manufacturing jobs, with 46 jobs created for every 1,000 immigrants in a county. These types of jobs attract more U.S. families to their communities that further provide revitalization and improved home values.
The fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are the greatest boon to our economy. STEM industries are currently producing jobs at a rate three times that of any other. In Arkansas, almost half of our university graduate students in these areas of study are foreign-born. Nearly 90 percent of the students earning engineering Ph.D.s are also nonresidents.
Foreign-born students create jobs for Arkansans and often provide the technological innovations that drive economic growth in the state. A recent study by the Partnership for a New American Economy found that for every 100 foreign-born graduates of a U.S. master’s or Ph.D. program
who remain here working in a STEM field, 262 jobs are created for Americans.
Arkansas STEM students also contribute to the state’s economic growth and competitiveness by earning patents on cutting-edge research and products. In recent years, more than three out of every four patents awarded to the 10 most-productive U.S. research universities had at least one foreign-born inventor.
Also found in this study is that for every $1 Arkansas spends on immigrants in the form of education, justice and health, Arkansas receives $7 in return. This illustrates the economic importance that immigration reform is to our state’s economy.
Our policies make it exceptionally difficult for our foreign-born students to remain here and work due to low limits for highly skilled work visas and hurdles to obtaining citizenship. These graduates find it easier to move elsewhere where such restrictions do not exist, and we are losing job opportunities and job creators.
We are missing too many opportunities for Congress to fail to act. I traveled to Washington, D.C., to discuss these issues and let our delegates know what meaningful reform would truly mean for Arkansas.
I urge you to lend your voice to the issue as well, and push our leaders to action.
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Jeffery Hall lives in Roland.
Editorial, Pages 17 on 10/30/2013