Immigration reform will have a serious economic impact on Florida
immigrants. Too often, the debate on immigration becomes long on emotion and short on the full economic picture.
While the national debate doesn’t always shine a light on it, here in Florida we see the positive impact of immigrants every day. Immigrants are so intertwined in our economy that it’s easy to forget that the foundation of our state and country was formed alongside them.
Today, our workforce is built on the backs of foreign-born workers on both ends of the spectrum: immigrants are filling critical positions that we can’t fill on our own - and they’re starting businesses that are employing fellow Floridians. Immigrants are directly tied to our success as a state, and they are directly tied to our future. The Florida Compact on Immigration stands behind these key principles.
There is plenty to celebrate about our state’s economy as we’re currently seeing the lowest unemployment rate in over a decade. But we’re also fooling ourselves if we didn’t look to what the future is demanding of our state. The harsh reality is that we simply don’t have the appropriate workforce to keep expanding. When businesses are desperate to find workers, they are left with very few options. They can hire employees with temporary visas only to see their visas expire, leaving both the business and worker with uncertainty and wasted resources. This frustrating cycle must not continue.
However, Floridians can be proud to know their state is a key example of building an economy around a diverse workforce. Many industries rely heavily on the immigrant population to remain successful. This includes fields such as construction, health care, tourism, and agriculture. But competition and employer demand have never been higher. Our future depends upon these very principles laid out by the Compact. Research also backs up the fact that our economy is bolstered by the presence of immigrants.
According to New American Economy (NAE), immigrants are already playing a huge part in ensuring that Florida remains a leader in high-tech industries. Nearly 25 percent of workers in the state’s science, technology, engineering, and math fields — or STEM — are immigrants. But that’s not just the case in high-skill fields: immigrants are much more likely to be of working age (ages 16-64) and are more likely to start a business (there are over 380,000 Florida immigrants who have). As a result, onethird of entrepreneurs in Florida are immigrants, despite accounting for 20 percent of the state’s population.
There’s simply too much at stake for the work on immigration reform to stall. Our goal is to make sure we continue making our state an attractive place for immigrant talent. While this is an issue to be solved federally, we’re making the case right here in Florida, because we are witnesses to it every day. Our
work is just beginning, but we implore our leaders to listen.
Eduardo Padrón is president of Miami Dade College and Julio Fuentes is president of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.