LAS VEGAS — Nevada business and community leaders offered solutions to grow the state’s economy, address the workforce shortage and keep families together at a roundtable co-sponsored by the bipartisan American Business Immigration Coalition Action (ABIC Action) and the Latin Chamber of Commerce.
Said Peter Guzmán, President of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, Nevada, “The Nevada economy relies on immigrant labor. We need to focus our attention on the people that are already here in the United States who are already contributing, if we want to solve the very real labor shortage.”
Added Donnie Gibson, President of Civil Werx, “To me, it is so simple that we are experiencing a labor shortage and the very obvious solution to that problem is to expand work authorization to a group of folks with no criminal record, who have been in the US contributing and paying taxes, to fill the jobs that we need to fill.”
“President Biden has the authority to alleviate this labor shortage and keep mixed status families together. One point one million US citizens and their spouses live in fear of separation. He must act now. It is an economic imperative, but it also makes good on the President’s promise in the State of the Union, when he said he will not separate families,” said James O’Neill, Director of Legislative Affairs of ABIC Action.
Mary Lau, President and CEO of the Retail Association of Nevada said, “Not every person who comes to the United States wants to become a citizen and stay permanently. But some do. And those who contribute to our country deserve the dignity of a work permit to support their family and find opportunity here.”
Added Amanda Moss, Senior Director of Government Affairs with the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, “In Nevada alone, we are seeing over 100,000 open construction jobs that could be filled tomorrow if only we had the workers to do so. For every home built, 3.1 jobs are created in the Nevada economy. Because of our industry’s labor shortages, despite the huge demand, our members can’t expand their companies to meet the growing demand for housing. This only drives up costs and impacts affordability.”
Immigrants make up about one-fifth of Nevada’ labor force and support the local economy in many ways. Over 576,926 Nevadans cannot legally work, despite paying $4.6 billion in taxes and wielding a spending power of $16.2 billion. Business leaders, small business owners, mixed-status families, Dreamers, faith leaders, and educators are encouraging Congress and President Biden to expand work authorization and address our region’s workforce challenges, keep Nevadan families together, and enhance economic prosperity and opportunities for all Nevadans.
Immigrants already make vital contributions to Nevada’s economy and communities:
- 92 percent of undocumented immigrants in Nevada are of working age, according to the American Immigration Council.
- $1.2 billion of Nevada state and local taxes are paid by undocumented immigrants.
- $16.2 billion in spending power by Nevada undocumented immigrants.
- Top Nevada industries with the highest share of immigrant workers include landscaping, housekeeping, painters, janitors/building cleaners and construction, all face labor shortages.
The U.S. economy depends upon a foreign-born labor force to alleviate national labor shortages, reduce inflation, and grow by $7 trillion more over the next decade. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, we currently have 9.5 million job openings in the U.S., but only 6.6 million unemployed workers. Even if every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have nearly 3 million open jobs across the United States.