Why Immigrants Aren’t Stealing Jobs: ‘Brain Waste’, the Economic and Employment Gaps Under-Employed High-Skilled Immigrants Could Fill

Immigrants Aren’t ‘Stealing’ American Jobs

With the re-election of former President Donald Trump, policies and opinions pertaining to immigration are expected to worsen as the President-elect’s vision for immigration can be summed up in three words: “Mass deportation now.”  Donald Trump has been vocal about his aims to place limits on legal immigration, remove protections for those already here, and exponentially increase the deportations of undocumented immigrants. In announcing Tom Homan, a former police officer, immigration official, and political commentator in the role of “border czar”, he has demonstrated a commitment to these promises. That being said, there are serious economic consequences associated with such moves, as deporting 1 million people a year would cost about $88 billion per year. With this crucial political development in mind, it is important to consider the existence of immigrants already settled within the United States, and the burdens they currently shoulder.

Immigrants, refugees, and asylees already face a tumultuous existence in the United States despite attaining the highest levels of education, surmounting conflict, poverty, discrimination, and hunger, and leaving their homes in pursuit of increased opportunities.

Migrants to the US often realize that they are no longer able to pursue their passions and practice in the area of their expertise. This is the reality for Mohammed Aldhaheri, a computer programmer from Yemen, Muhammed Rufai Batmanoglu, a biomedical engineer from Turkey, Abigail Sandoval a doctor from Venezuela, Ahmad Javad Momand, an anesthesiologist from Afghanistan, and millions of other highly-skilled immigrants in the US.

Harmful political rhetoric, in current and past elections alike, with blame for violence being displaced onto immigrant communities has resulted in dangerous and destructive riots abroad, creating an urgent need for accurate information. In reality, the majority of immigrants are not stealing the jobs of US-born citizens. Rather, they are actually struggling to obtain jobs in fields relevant to their education and experience. As of 2022, a total of 35 percent of all immigrant adults ages 25 and up held a bachelor’s degree or higher. That being said, between 20-25 per cent of those immigrants are underemployed working in survival jobs as nannies, cashiers, or drivers. This phenomenon is commonly known as ‘brain waste,’ where highly-skilled immigrants are unable to use their skills and training in US workplaces, for reasons beyond under qualification or in-experience. Many immigrants experience the effects of brain waste, despite country of origin or field of practice, but some groups experience it at disproportionate rates. Race, country of origin, English language skills, legal status, and educational backgrounds in health, medicine, education, communications, and business are all factors that affect underutilization. California in specific hosts the largest population with 27 per cent of highly-educated immigrants being underutilized. The issue at hand is a complex and protracted one as it is caused in part by the difficulty of transferring foreign credentials and degrees and is affected by legal status, lack of employer recognition, lack of cultural literacy, language barriers, federal and regional government inaction and private business hesitations and biases.

The Hurdles to Navigate Through 

The difficult reality is that there is no federal system regarding assessing foreign credentials, with states having varying processes and requirements across career specific lines. Bureaucratic, legal, and financial barriers are associated with all lines of work, but apply unevenly to those from displaced backgrounds who may be unable to prove their qualifications, those with low language proficiency, and those who lack a solid network of social and professional connections to help them navigate the complexities of the job market. Foreign-education doctors are required to take and pass three separate licensing exams, undergo credential recognition and re-credentialing through the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), and secure a spot in and finish three to eight years of US-based residency, regardless of previous experience. Lawyers in New York have to rely on guidelines created by the State Board of Law Examiners and may even have to obtain a US-based Juris Doctor (JD) degree or a Master of Law degree in order to simply take the licensure exam. These processes are inefficient and highly unattractive to immigrants given the lack of large-scale organizations serving these populations due to the nature of individual conditions, concerns, and restrictions.

The Economic and Employment Gap

An effective and efficient credentialing and licensing system would have the potential to fill the vast gap in the US job market and economy. With nearly 27 per cent or about 65,000 out of 247,000 foreign-trained doctors in the US not practicing, a clear and detrimental wastage of human resources continues to occur. With California potentially facing a shortfall of 4,100 primary care clinicians, impacting already vulnerable rural and low-income populations and a national shortfall predicted to reach 120,000 vacancies by 2030, the under-utilization of a key resource is a dire and costly misstep. In economic terms, the estimate of lost wages due to the underemployment of migrants is nearly $40 billion per year and the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy (ITEP) estimates that nearly $10.2 billion was lost in taxes per year, with California alone losing $9.4 billion in annual wages and $694 million in taxes. Allowing foreign educated workers to have easier access to credential recognition and licensing would be a cost-effective solution as they are an untapped part of the workforce that arrives completely if not nearly fully trained and equipped to serve the nation.

Capitalizing on ‘Brain Waste’ Could Be the Solution We Desperately Need

Though arguments against foreign-educated highly-skilled individuals exist revolving around concerns about quality controls and ‘brain drain’ abroad, the benefits they would provide are numerous. If the population of highly-skilled underemployed immigrants are allowed to continue their careers, the nation would see the creation of more jobs resulting in increased cash flows into the economy. There is a significant overlap between the native languages of these professionals and the languages spoken by the Limited English Proficiency (LEP) communities they could potentially be serving, creating a valuable connection while increasing the importance and impact of their work. Specifically, many foreign healthcare professionals speak the languages of the largest LEP populations in California: Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, and Farsi. Lastly, it has been shown that immigrant doctors actually may produce better outcomes than their US-educated counterparts.

Violation of International Law

The United States is only a signatory to the  International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and has yet to ratify the covenant, but despite this fact they still have an obligation to not directly infringe upon its content, which they continue to do by limiting the economic capacities of foreign-educated professionals. ICESCR Art. 1(1) calls for the right to self determination and the ability of everyone to be able to pursue their economic development without barriers, something directly impeded upon by tough restrictions on credential recognition and licensing. ICESCR Art. 6(2) states that nations must take all the necessary steps in order to ensure steady economic developments, full and productive employment, and economic freedoms for all, which is directly violated by allowing under-employment.

Existing Support and Future Solutions

There are a few standout organizations spread across the nation that are working to ease the burden on highly-educated immigrants. Michigan International Talent Solutions (MITS) works to support individuals, enabling them to fulfill their full potential through job search training and coaching. The Medical Support Worker Scheme for Refugee Doctors (MSW) works to support refugee doctors specifically within the National Health Service (NHS). Upwardly Global is a nonprofit working to eliminate employment barriers for skilled immigrants in the US by providing career counseling services and more. The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians works to reduce ‘brain waste’ in Pennsylvania, specifically honing in on high-growth industries, such as auditing, accounting, engineering, and teaching. The Cooper Union Retraining Program for Immigrant Engineers  run through Cooper Union College in NYC, supports immigrant, refugee, and asylee engineers with career advancement. The Brooklyn Law School LL.M  program for Internationally Trained Lawyers, helps integrate foreign education to US requirements. Canada allows internationally-trained physicians to participate in a 12-week clinical field assessment and an apprenticeship program prior to integration back into the field, streamlining the process significantly. As far as potential remedies, on the federal level, Congress should increase the number of employment-based green cards in order to cut wait times for skilled immigrants. Congress could also expand the Conrad 30 program to increase the number of physicians in the country and in each state. In May of 2018, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard introduced a bill (H.R. 5917) which highlighted immigrant brain waste in the U.S. and argued to fund integration beginning with the medical field, which should be utilized as a foundation for future legislation. Finally, employers should be educated about foreign credentials to counteract bias. Highly-skilled immigrants must be afforded the same rights and opportunities as their US-born counterparts if the nation wants to begin to fill the gaps in healthcare, law, education, and other professions before it grows out of control.