Was Live Friday, August 26, 2022 | 11 am PT
Guest Speakers
- Giovanni Peri, PhD. Professor of Economics at the University of California, Davis, Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Founder and Director of the UC Davis Global Migration Center
- Julie Collins, CCP, LP, MS Program Director Department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences, College of Health Sciences
- Gregory Z. Chen, Esq. Senior Director of Government Relations, American Immigration Lawyers Association
News Report from this Media Briefing
Event Description
As we approach Labor Day, a number of economists, demographers and other experts are sounding the alarm: the country needs immigrants – from meat packing to home building to STEM professionals to nurses – to keep pace with the job-creating post-pandemic economy and long-term economic growth. While public discussion focuses on the estimated 2 million border crossings for the fiscal year – not the same as 2 million people – the economists are focusing on the fact that about 10 to 15% of job openings that typically employ immigrant or foreign-born workers, are still vacant.
And yet, the legal immigration system is in dire straits, there’s a monstrous backlog of green cards, generations of people are waiting for legalization, the asylum system is virtually paralyzed and there’s absolutely no appetite in Congress – mostly on one side – to ease restrictions for even the most popular of legal immigrants. Dreamers and STEM PhDs come to mind.
Speakers will explain what’s at stake and why the policy stalemates on immigration can damage the economic recovery and long-term economic health of the USA.
Presented by Ethnic Media Services
