Thread by @NiskanenCenter

THREAD: Labor shortages are interrupting Americans’ access to necessities, including food and healthcare.

The Department of Labor can provide instant relief by updating Schedule A (a list of occupations that don’t have enough workers). 1/
niskanencenter.org/the-case-for-u…

Let’s take a look to see how bad things have gotten. Labor shortages and inflation have cost employers and American families billions. 97% of small businesses said the shortages impacted their bottom line. 2/
niskanencenter.org/labor-shortage…

As of March 2022, inflation (driven by supply chain disruptions) was on track to cost the average American household $5,200 in 2022. 3/
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Extensive labor shortages mean Americans struggle to shop, eat, or even visit the doctor. And the consequences are hitting working-class families hardest. Take a look at the consequences labor shortages have on our health care system: 4/

Bringing in foreign talent seems like an obvious answer to the shortages, but that’s easier said than done. American employers have to compete against each other to access the insufficient allocation of employment-based visas. 5/

For upcoming FY2023, 48,000+ employers across the U.S. submitted 480,000+ requests for specialty worker visas. But because of the cap on these visas, only ¼ of these employers got their requests even potentially considered. 6/

Comparing Q2 of FY2022 to Q2 of FY2019 before the pandemic, I-129 petitions for nonimmigrant (or temporary) workers are up nearly 36%, and I-140 petitions for immigrant (or permanent) workers are up approximately 46%. 7/

Nearly 172,000 immigrant workers HAVE already been approved and deemed as necessary to the American workforce, yet remain stuck in visa backlogs (sometimes for DECADES). 8/
#visabacklog #greencardbacklog

And USCIS processing times have gotten worse. The processing time for a Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker of the “skilled worker or professional” category has gone from 5-7 months in 2019 to 17 months in 2022. 9/

Absent Congressional action to improve our broken immigration system, updating Schedule A is a meaningful and immediate answer to all of these challenges. 10/

Schedule A is a list of occupations for which DoL has declared an insufficient number of workers in the U.S. and determined that the employment of immigrants would not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly situated U.S.-based employees. 11/

Per the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the U.S. can offer visas to qualified immigrants who can do jobs for which there’s a shortage of “employable and willing persons” in the U.S. 12/

The Act establishes an expedited process for pre-specified industries–including those listed under Schedule A. Employers hiring for Schedule A jobs don’t have to prove that they’ve done an exhaustive search for a qualified candidate domestically–saving them 6+ months. 13/

The only problem? Even though the Labor Secretary has the discretionary authority to amend the list at any time, Schedule A hasn’t been updated for 30 years. And so, only nurses, physical therapists, and immigrants of exceptional ability are on the list. 14/

Compare that to the top 20 certified or approved permanent labor certification applications from the past 5 fiscal years. Today, American employers have a perpetual need for qualified individuals willing to fulfill these roles. 15/

Unsurprisingly, many of these occupations appear on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ list of the top 20 occupations with the most new jobs projected to be created over the next eight years. The need for skilled labor in these areas will continue to grow. 16/

We ultimately need Congressional action to fix the processing delays that are holding up foreign talent. But @USDOL can provide instant and significant relief to immigrants, American industries, and American families simply by updating Schedule A. 17/17
niskanencenter.org/the-case-for-u…