It follows a symbiotic relationship, America needs immigrants in the same way as immigrants need America that is for social and economic growth. We have seen nation growing which are ready to accept immigrants, nations having good immigration policies, for example- USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand.
On the other hand countries like Japan, where immigrant’s acceptance is very low, they are facing problems like shortage of workforce, old aged workers. Talking about America, President Donald Trump’s stringent policies on immigration stands totally opposite of his Republican predecessor, President George W. Bush, who favored robust immigration policies and promote immigration programs. In this article, we will discuss various factors to see why America needs immigrants?
Demand and supply- US has high demand for skilled workers- hence it needs immigrants to grow
The prime reason why immigrants are so valuable is demand and supply. When there is demand supplier will find the way to fulfill that demand. The demand for highly skilled and experienced workers is in all fields be it agriculture, medicine or IT, or highly specialized research jobs. Legal labor will continue to migrate to fill this demand of skilled labor. Demand and supply are mutually dependent entities. There will be an increase in domestic consumption with increase inflow of the labor and workable population.
Immigrants are more open to change and relocation- hence immigrants provide flexible workforce to USA
Immigrants will settle in the region where there are more opportunities and more chances to grow for them. Towards area, weather, immigrants don’t have much of preference, as their main focus is to succeed at any cost. Many times immigrants ignore injustice and discrimination sometimes due to no safety net, they just keep going forward. More economic opportunities have been created as these migrants over the years are building resilient communities and family structures. Migrants explored the less attractive and lucrative areas and created unknown opportunities in that area.
Industry landscape is changing day by day not only IT industry but others are also changing because of automation, AI, and reliance on data. With this change need, more and more skilled workers are also going to increase. The zeal of employees to succeed will propel them to take the risk and do better.
Rustbelt is shaking off its rust- creating job opportunities in USA
Rustbelt is the cluster of regions in the USA, where industry decline has started since 1980. Now that regions are no less than any big cities in America, hence creating more job opportunities and maintaining the economic growth. PayPal, for example, has opened its 4th data center in Idaho creating hundreds of jobs. Now the question what lead to this change in these isolated places? The possible answer is to this is that immigrants look for the opportunities where others don’t.
Merit-based culture- brought by immigrants
Immigrants bring their motivation and their merits with themselves. Their desire of succeeding makes them do things as hardest as possible. Based on their desire and competitive nature they are doing an excellent job in their fields. This trait is then further inherited by their children. After this much contribution, the immigrants are deprived of the benefits that received by the native people until they get the citizenship. Individual merit is their safety net, and the willingness to succeed is their greatest competitive advantage. So through immigrants, a country gets two highly valued virtues- motivation and desire to succeed.
Conclusion – does US need Immigrants to grow?
A country needs immigrants for its economic betterment. While praising the merits which an immigrant has, there is serious need to work on the enforcement of the immigration policies. As for the want of diversity, while making changes- its impacts on the population shouldn’t be overlooked.