By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
The AZ Mirror news outlet has reported nine Arizona business leaders are among the more than 120 from around the country that have signed onto a letter from the American Business Immigration Coalition Action, asking the Biden administration to expand immigrant work permits.
The article cites the growth in job opportunities created under the administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and the ongoing national labor shortage as prompting the need for urgent reforms to increase work permit availability. A recent editorial column in Bisnow made a similar request.
In a recent news conference ABIC Political Director James O’Neill said the enthusiasm that should be present because of the billions of dollars available for prospective projects under the IRA is subdued because the ongoing worker shortage prevents some companies from even bidding on projects.
Construction leaders have said for years that older workers are retiring and not being replaced by younger workers. Nevada-based Civil Werx CEO Donnie Gibson is quoted in AZ Mirror as saying, “It’s an economic emergency,” Gibson said. “That’s a great argument for employing a motivated immigrant population.”
The article cites the worker shortage as contributing to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s decision to push its planned north Phoenix plant opening back by at least a year. TSMC is bringing hundreds of its own workers from Taiwan to train U.S. workers and otherwise help accelerate the project.
An Associated General Contractors survey last year reported more than 90% of constructions firms face difficulties in finding workers who are qualified and can pass a drug test.
The AZ Mirror article says firms that follow current hiring regulations are underbid by firms hiring undocumented laborers. AGC is pressing for the creation of a temporary market-based visa program for immigrant laborers to temporarily ease the shortage while it continues to press for comprehensive reforms.
ABIC is advocating for a plan with some bipartisan support that gives states the ability to sponsor immigrant workers and lets each state decide how many visas will be required annually for each industry.
The key paragraph of the ABIC letter to Biden reads as follows: “The immigration system is too broken to ignore. Economic and humanitarian emergencies require immediate action, and your Administration has the authority to do more under current law. We respectfully request that you expand a special category of immigration permits for individuals who can fill positions where labor shortages exist, for people migrating to the U.S. and long-term immigrant contributors like Dreamers, farm workers, and essential workers.”