Florida is experiencing a workforce crisis. Immigrants can help

Throughout South Florida,

“now hiring” signs and warnings of slow service or limited hours due to staffing shortages have become increasingly common. Our state is experiencing a workforce crisis, and the businesses in the restaurant and hospitality industry are particularly feeling the impact — from staffing challenges to supply chain issues. In this environment, businesses are having to limit hours, unexpectedly close for short time periods or pass up on opportunities.

The situation is dire, and it’s very complicated.

But one piece of the puzzle should be straightforward — reforming our country’s flawed immigration system to give undocumented immigrants the opportunity to fully contribute to our workforce and communities.

As the owner of a restaurant group with soon-to-be three locations in Miami, I’d estimate that more than 60% of South Florida hospitality employees are undocumented. This is by no means unusual in the hospitality industry in our state, and these individuals are hard-working and committed.

While representatives in Congress have long used immigration as a political bargaining piece, it is time that immigrants are recognized for what they bring to the table in terms of skilled labor and work ethic.

Already, 2.7 million Florida immigrants are filling much-needed job openings in our workforce, while simultaneously contributing $105 billion annually to our economy. If it was made easier for the estimated 772,000 undocumented immigrants here to get work permits, driver’s licenses and eventual legal status, these contributions would only grow, and our economy would be well on the way to improvement.

Immigrants also have a higher rate of entrepreneurship. According to New American Economy, immigrants start businesses at higher rates than the overall population, and millions of American workers are employed at immigrant-owned companies. In Florida alone, there are nearly 400,000 immigrant entrepreneurs who are driving job growth and economic growth in their communities.

I immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia before settling in Miami and starting my business. I know first-hand that immigrants have higher rates of entrepreneurship because of two factors: the need for survival and the reality that they’ve left everything behind, which is the greatest risk of all. We left our countries, families and homes to pursue a better future, and turning back is not an option. We start with an idea, put in the time, the energy, the passion, and soon we are hiring employees, buying equipment, paying taxes, and leasing commercial property. It’s how our communities were built.

So many cultures have helped build the diverse, vibrant and thriving city of Miami. Immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela and so many other countries have brought their own cuisine, music, arts and traditions. They’ve taken their cultures and melded them to make South Florida what it is today.

We must continue to foster the growth of our cities and state by giving undocumented immigrants permanent protections and paths forward.

Most Americans agree that immigration reforms, like those the House of Representatives included in their budget reconciliation package last year, should be passed. It’s time for our elected leaders, like senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, to do what’s best for our state’s businesses and immigrants by enacting long-overdue immigration reforms.