While the U.S. labor market continues to rebalance from the pandemic, it faces setbacks from immigration.
U.S. officials have pointed to increased immigration as a way to relieve some of the labor shortages and skills gaps in the workforce, and a new survey suggests many Americans may agree.
Over 56% of Americans believe that highly skilled immigrants help the U.S. economy, according to a Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and Morning Consult survey of 2,006 registered voters. However, when asked a more general question about if immigrants help or hurt the U.S. economy, respondents were almost equally divided (35% help versus 32% hurt).
"Our survey didn’t ask people why they felt the way they do, but I think there seems to be a general feeling that people with higher levels of skills or education are more impactful for the economy than those without," Theresa Cardinal Brown, BPC’s senior advisor for Immigration and Border Policy, told Yahoo Finance.
High-skilled migration is defined by the Migration Research Hub as "the movement of persons who normally possess university education (ISCED 5-6), extensive experience, or a combination of the two."
Foreign-born STEM workers are a prime example of high-skilled immigrants, but according to Cardinal Brown, these workers can get lost in the conversation around immigration reform.
"There is a generalized inclination when talking about immigrants to think of either undocumented immigrants or those more visible in the workforce in lesser-skilled jobs such as hospitality, construction, janitorial and other services," Cardinal Brown said.
Misconceptions about high-skilled immigration
Public support isn't necessarily reflected in the number of highly skilled immigrants entering the U.S.
Although migration rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels, they still show a steady drop since 2016. The number of work visas issued in the U.S. hit a record low in 2021 at 201,000, according to estimates from the Census Bureau.
Immigrant visas or permanent resident (green card) application backlogs that piled up during the pandemic decreased last month by 6,000, but there are still more than 300,000 cases waiting to be processed. These backlogs have prevented highly skilled immigrants from obtaining work authorization.
Additionally, there's a lack of knowledge among many Americans about visa processes, which has exacerbated the growing issue.
Over 38% of U.S. voters said they had no knowledge of the average wait time to obtain an employment-specific green card, according to BPC's survey, which may shape public perception of immigration. Depending on nationality and other factors, average wait times for green cards can range anywhere from two years to more than a decade.