America’s Labor Shortage: How Low Immigration Levels Accentuated the Problem and How Immigration Can Fix It

Arturo Castellanos-Canales, National Immigration Forum, Feb. 28, 2022

"The United States is facing an acute labor shortage. While the root cause of the problem is multifactorial, America’s lowest net international migration (NIM) levels in decades have accelerated the workforce deficit. In turn, inflation has surged, companies report lost opportunities, and supply chains across economic sectors are severely affected. A partial solution to the labor shortage is to increase immigration to the country. America is uniquely positioned to demonstrate, once again, that immigrants are the solution, not the problem. The symbiotic relationship between the U.S. economy and immigrants is now more evident than ever. Therefore, the National Immigration Forum suggests to:

1. Remove all the administrative restrictions and procedural hurdles that have prevented immigrant workers from filling key labor needs.
2. Increase the annual cap of H-2B temporary workers.
3. Expand the H-2A program and reduce its bureaucratic requirements.
4. Recapture unused green cards.
5. Retain and attract STEM immigrant workers.
6. Tackle USCIS’ application bottleneck.
7. Ensure Dreamers’ continued access to employment authorization by passing a permanent legislative solution for them."