Week of May 8–14, 2022

A labour shortage in the US is partly due to a drop in immigration that ground to a halt during the coronavirus pandemic. This lack of workers is forcing prices up and contributing to supply shortages in many sectors including meatpacking and home building. The US is believed to have two million fewer immigrants than it would have if the pace had stayed the same and some economists predict the pool of potential workers will start to shrink by 2025. Researchers say that immigration is rapidly returning to its pre-pandemic levels, but the US would need a significant acceleration to make up its deficit. However, this comes as the US political system shows less appetite for increasing immigration.

US lawmakers and advocates are urging the Senate to act on more narrowly focused immigration bills, such as those which could solve labor shortages affecting the agricultural and hospitality industries. High inflation rates and a tight job market have added urgency to the drive, with data from the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that the US labor market is the tightest it has been for more than a decade. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act, sponsored by Washington Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse and California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, passed the House in March 2021 with 30 Republican votes, but has yet to pass the Senate. A small, bipartisan group of senators has been tasked with identifying leaner immigration bills that could attract the 60 votes necessary to progress in the Senate.

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to approve a universal free legal representation program for immigrants facing deportation, which will prioritize representation for unaccompanied children, immigrants who are homeless or at risk, people under Temporary Protected Status, asylum seekers, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The L.A. Justice Fund was launched in 2017 but excluded immigrants with criminal convictions, a requirement that was removed by Councilmembers Kevin de León and Paul Krekorian. Lindsay Toczylowski, who heads the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said it was important for all immigrants to be able to access legal representation. The majority of clients in the pilot program have been people seeking asylum, unaccompanied children, homeless people, and survivors of domestic sexual violence or human trafficking.

The United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) has announced a new policy that automatically extends the validity of certain employment authorization documents (EADs). The move aims to tackle the processing backlogs that have led to job losses and labor shortages in businesses across the country. The delays have impacted all categories of immigrants awaiting work permits. The new policy, which benefits refugees, asylees, pending asylum seekers, those waiting for green cards through work or family sponsorship, VAWA self-petitioners, TPS applicants, and spouses of H-1B, L-1, and E-2 visas, provides a welcome interim solution to a complex problem. However, some categories, such as H-4 visa holders, may still face difficulties, as they must show an unexpired I-94 document. Premium processing has been promised to expedite this process. USCIS has advised affected parties to present acceptable proof of the automatic extension of employment authorization and/or EAD validity.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has launched a digital ad campaign aimed at dissuading potential migrants from Honduras and Guatemala from making the dangerous journey to the US border. The ads warn that smugglers, or 'coyotes', who take advantage of vulnerable migrants are criminals, and entering the US illegally is a crime. The two-month ad campaign will target migrants via mobile devices on social media and other digital platforms, directing them to a landing page outlining the harsh realities of the journey, including the dangers of exploitation and facing death at the hands of criminal organisations. In Fiscal Year 2021, Northern Central American countries accounted for 44% of migrant encounters along the Southwest border. The ads are part of the Department of Homeland Security's comprehensive plan to manage any potential increase in the number of migrants encountered at the border.

Immigrants constitute almost one-fifth of the US labor force. The unemployment rate for foreign-born workers climbed from 4% in Q1 2019 to a peak of 15.3% by Q2 2020. By contrast, the US-born worker unemployment rate rose from 4.1% to 12.4% over the same period. Employment among immigrants recovered well; the unemployment rate fell to 5.9% by Q2 2021, just 0.1 percentage points higher than the rate for US-born workers. As some unemployed immigrants may return to their home nations, it tends to drive down the number of foreign-born unemployed workers looking for jobs in the US and the total foreign-born labor force. The pandemic initially sharply reduced the foreign-born share of the US population, reaching a trough in September 2020, but has since seen a sharp recovery, with the December 2021 share exceeding the pre-pandemic share. Immigrant shares in total US employment fell sharply from 18.5% in February 2020 to 17.2% in June 2020, recovering to around 18.7% by December 2021. The top six occupational groups ranked by immigrant employment shares had disparate effects on immigrant employment shares across the groups, as some were hurt much more than others.

Patients’ access to care, particularly for preventive and chronic disease management, is not guaranteed for the mostly immigrant population at Essen Health Care, according to senior VP Silvia Posada. She explained that barriers range from socioeconomic issues to health literacy and English language proficiency. According to Posada, many immigrants don’t access medical care, especially primary and preventive care, because it was not the standard in their home countries. Essen Health Care is working to change this paradigm through tailored patient outreach and education. The healthcare provider has set a goal of ensuring that every single patient receives direct messaging from Essen encouraging them to schedule their annual wellness visit. Essen also prioritizes cancer screenings, particularly cervical cancer screenings. However, according to Posada, health payer coverage among even the legal immigrant community is hard.

Estonia's population increased slightly by 1,728 people to 1,331,796 on January 1, 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, according to Statistics Estonia. In 2021, there were 13,272 births and 18,587 deaths, leading to negative natural increase, which was offset by positive net migration. The country's population growth was the result of an increase in immigration with 19,524 people moving to Estonia and 12,481 emigrating from Estonia. However, the death rate in 2021 was exceptionally high, with 5,315 more deaths than births registered. Although the number of first, second, and third births decreased in the last two years compared to pre-pandemic levels, there has been a rise in the number of women giving birth to their first or second child at age 30-44. The majority of the immigrants arrived from Finland and Ukraine, while most emigrants went to Finland.

The pandemic has exacerbated a years-old trend resulting in the lowest immigration rate in decades, according to data released by the Census Bureau. The shortage of immigrant workers is causing supply chain fragility and impacting the workforce, as there are more job openings than available workers. The situation is causing concerns for some employers, such as barbecue joint manager Jeff Keate in Cincinnati, who is worried about his suppliers' ability to keep up. Immigration policy analyst Ashish Prashar believes that diversifying the workforce by increasing immigration would help solve supply shortages and inflation. Prashar argues that President Biden needs to create more visas, and one way to achieve this would be to ease Title 42 restrictions that were put in place by former President Trump to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) quick offer of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Ukrainian nationals contrasts with its lack of similar offers for nationals of countries such as Congo, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Haiti. Campaigners rallied outside the US Capitol to demand the extension of TPS to additional nations and the renewal of protections for foreign nationals already benefiting from the programme. Most of the 350,000 TPS recipients as of February were from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti, making up a sizable share of the construction and restaurant industries in some states. The DHS can grant TPS to foreign nationals in the US who cannot return safely to their home countries because of dangerous conditions such as war or natural disasters. TPS lasts typically for 18 months and confers work authorization and travel eligibility.