Utah has one of the fastest growing economies in the United States, but the ability to build, serve, feed and house its citizens is in real jeopardy.
As our harvest season approaches and our basement-level unemployment hovers just above 2%, I am concerned about our ability to meet the workforce demands of our thriving economic engine. One solution that would empower a new approach to immigration reform would be a decentralized state-based visa authority. Our elected leaders in Washington could pass a bill sending work permit responsibility delegation to states and have it based on an objective factor like the unemployment rate. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is leading an effort to allow states to issue work permits currently done by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. And states wanting to direct the permits to needy industries in their jurisdictions could petition for the right to do so, under Cox’s plan.
Everywhere I go, employers in every sector — not just one or two — share with me that labor shortage is their top concern. As home builders try to keep up with demand, they say there are not enough construction workers to keep pace. Our farmers are struggling under a heat wave and shortage of workers to help bring in the harvest. Health care employers continue to face a shortage of nurses and the skilled help they need to care for those in need. It does not make sense that our current system will not let immigrants with nursing licenses quickly convert those licenses to Utah ones.
In response to these increasing demands for available employees, elected leaders have begun to speak out on the need for states to sponsor work permits to bring enough labor into their economy. Even some members of Congress are seeing the pragmatism behind allowing states to design visa programs that fit the needs of their individual or regional economies. However, the voice of business deserves to be added to the growing concern that the status quo “one size fits all” immigration approach is not working and is often counterproductive.
Everyone deserves a better state-by-state approach, one that is orderly and accountable to the mutual needs of workers and state economies. Moreover, states have always been the laboratories of democracy where pilot programs can be tried to see how effective they may be. Allowing Utah and other states to opt into a lawful, orderly and efficient temporary program to meet workforce needs in critical industries would be a huge boon for employers, immigrant workers and American consumers alike. For example, we are currently allowing migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to obtain work authorization under a humanitarian program that allows temporary permits to live and work here. Why not expand and delegate this authority to state leaders who are closer to the needs of their communities and economies?
For years, governors and employers from both parties have called for immigration reforms that provide safe, legal and efficient pathways to lawful status while maintaining national security at our borders in order to help our economy. This approach could alleviate several problems. Currently, we have a system that makes it too easy for people to enter the U.S. illegally and, at the same time, too hard for those arriving legitimately who want to work and contribute to society. Empowering states to issue work permits is an opportunity to reverse this equation.
Now is the time for leaders to try something new. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost a third of states currently have job opening rates above the national average. Agriculture, America’s first industry, is particularly hard hit — so much so that we are on track to buy and import more food from foreign nations than we produce here at home. The lack of workers is the main reason for that trend, resulting in historically high prices consumers pay at grocery stores and food insecurity due to a greater reliance on imported products.
Our current visa options for immigrant workers are outdated and do not serve the economy. The federal government empowering states to make these choices — to issue work permits — is a new approach worth considering. Business stands at the intersection of the community, families and the economy, ready to operationalize a new approach to solve this problem and power our prosperity in Utah.
Derek Miller is the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber.