Democratic senators urge Biden to allow states to sponsor noncitizens to expand workforce

A group of a dozen Democratic senators are urging President Biden to allow states to sponsor noncitizens for work authorization in certain industries to expand the workforce. 

The senators, led by Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said in a letter to Biden on Friday that the United States is facing major workforce shortages in multiple industries, and economists believe that two years of lost immigration amid the COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for almost half of the workers who are missing from the labor force. 

“It is no surprise that state leaders have called for immigration reform to meet their state’s workforce needs. Without such reforms, some businesses have closed their doors. Others have hired workers without authorization, leaving such workers at risk of artificially depressed wages and poor working conditions,” the letter states. 

The senators said many of the migrants who have come to the U.S. across the southern border are “ready, capable, and willing” to help meet the country’s workforce needs. But they said many have struggled to find work because of the immigration system’s legal and logistical obstacles. 

They noted that immigration laws require an asylum-seeker to wait six months to receive a work permit, and the application process can take almost a year because of processing times. But those who receive parole to enter the U.S. can immediately apply for work authorization.

They said congressional action to provide pathways to citizenship is “long overdue” but unlikely to happen in time to address the workforce needs. 

The senators said the secretary of homeland security can issue parole on a case-by-case basis to meet humanitarian needs or when granting parole would cause a “significant public benefit” to the U.S. 

They added that the end of Title 42, which has allowed the U.S. to more easily expel migrants and deny them asylum during the pandemic, on Thursday is expected to cause an increase in migrants coming into the country at the same time as states are “in desperate need of workers to ensure access to health care and to lower the costs of food for Americans.” 

“Allowing these states to op into a lawful, orderly, and efficient parole program to meet work force needs in critical industries would provide an enormous public benefit to all Americans,” the letter states.

Along with Durbin, the letter was signed by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Angus King (I-Maine), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo).