A prior post discussed the various ways the Iowa State Government was encouraging the resettlement of refugees and other immigrants in their state to combat its shortage of workers.[1]
Now the Republican governors of Indiana (Eric Holcomb)and Utah (Spencer Cox) have jointly voiced the same desire. They start their appeal as follows: “Indiana has about 220,000 open jobs right now and Utah has 107,000, according to the most recent federal data — more than 6 percent of all jobs in both states. With strong business and tax environments, we like our chances in the competition for job-seekers moving from other states. But they won’t be enough to fill all of those vacancies. We also need immigrants who are ready to work and help build strong communities.” (Emphasis added.)[2]
To meet that need these two governors call on Congress to enable states “to sponsor whatever immigrants serve the needs of their communities. . . . Rapidly declining birthrates and accelerating retirements across the United States mean that our states’ already wide job gaps will grow to crisis proportions without more [immigrants].”
Therefore, these two governors suggest that states be empowered to sponsor immigrants for resettlement “from a pool of new applicants from abroad and from the ranks of current asylum seekers [for refugee status].” They also recognize that there must be “rules to determine who can come in and how, and who can stay; unflinching enforcement of such rules; and some kind of review-and-repeat process to assure that the United States offers paths to citizenship based on our evolving needs. The rules must include a practical approach to illegal immigrants who came to this country as children. And enforcement must include firm control of all entry points.”
Conclusion
Governors Holcomb and Cox added that they believe other states will join this effort from comments they heard at last week’s National Governors Association meeting.
This is good news!
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[1] Iowa State Government Encouraging Refugee and Migrant Resettlement, dwkcommentaries.com (Feb. 3, 2023).
[2] Holcomb & Cox, To solve out national immigration crisis, let states sponsor immigrants, Wash. Post (Feb. 21, 2023).