PHOENIX — Immigrants Most important issues in the election Few places feel that more than in Arizona, the only battleground state along the southern border and home to one of the races that will determine control of the Senate.
Arizona businesses say a shortage of workers could hold up projects in industries such as construction, hospitality and agriculture, and the economy could face a devastating blow if federal immigration rules aren’t changed. states.
According to one study, approximately 16.2% of Arizona’s workforce is made up of immigrants. American Immigration Council 2022 Survey. Meanwhile, the state is also facing a job shortage, with 197,000 people in June, according to the newspaper. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Monica Villalobos, president and CEO of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the labor shortage is leading to larger economic impacts, including home prices.
“There are several members of the construction industry who are unable to find workers to complete their projects,” she said. “Not being able to complete the project means there is a housing shortage.”
Immigration is also a hot topic in the U.S. Senate race between Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake, a former news anchor and 2022 Republican candidate for Arizona governor. The race is aimed at filling the seat left by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego speaks during a press conference about the Arizona-Mexico border at the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office on March 18, 2024 in Nogales, Arizona.
Rebecca Noble | Reuters
While Congress has struggled to pass immigration reform, Sinema and a bipartisan group of senators made it happen. Create an invoiceAbove all, Significantly expanded worker permits To the immigrants. Political pressure ultimately led to the bill being defeated in a procedural vote.
Michael Infanzon, lobbyist Canyon State Business Alliancesaid the current legal immigration system is an “absolute failure” for both businesses and workers who need employees.
“Imagine if you wanted to go from Maryland to Virginia, it took you three years to get the paperwork to go from Maryland to Virginia and work for six months,” he said in an interview with CNBC. Please give it a try,” he said. “Are you going to keep doing that or are you going to jump across the border and do that and then come back?”
Gallego said he supports the bipartisan bill. He also called for more Border Patrol agents and to make cross-border trade more efficient.
“I have been dedicated to ensuring that our ports of entry have the advanced technology and human resources to handle the cross-border trade on which our country depends,” he said in a statement to CNBC. said.
November 4, 2022: Arizona Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh, Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters, Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem at the Arizona-Mexico border He will hold a press conference while inspecting the area.
Kevin Dietch | Getty Images
Lake is a strong supporter of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. Largest internal deportation in U.S. historyis using the National Guard to help locate illegal immigrants. Lake told CNBC that the labor shortage is due to schools not preparing students for the job market, and the solution is to improve schools.
“It’s disgusting that we have millions of people coming across the border in about three hours from here and they’re getting more jobs than graduates from our high schools and universities,” she told the office. said in an interview. About one-third According to the American Immigration Council, 24 foreign-born immigrants in the state have less than a high school degree.
John Graham, chairman and CEO of developer Sunbelt Holdings, said the U.S. doesn’t have the workforce to fill jobs in industries such as construction and agriculture.
“The problem is, these people aren’t taking other people’s jobs,” he said, standing near a hotel his company is building in downtown Phoenix. “These are jobs that we absolutely have to have, and if there is any significant workforce loss, there is no replacement.”
Mr. Graham is the director of the American Business and Immigration Council, which sent President Joe Biden to the United States. April letter It called for “expanding special categories of entry permits for individuals who can fill positions where labor shortages exist.”
In addition to choosing their next senator, Arizonans will vote on a proposal that, if passed, could allow state and local police to arrest noncitizens who cross the border illegally with probable cause.
The two proposals, mass deportation and allowing local law enforcement to arrest illegal aliens, would have a chilling effect not only on immigrants who entered the country legally, but also on businesses considering moving to Arizona. Graham said it could lead to
This ballot measure reminds us that: 2010 State Law This made illegal entry into the country a national crime. Additionally, the law made it illegal to knowingly employ or transport unauthorized immigrants and made it a crime to not carry immigration documents.
This law led to racial profiling and reduced the number of workers in the state. research by grand canyon research institute It turns out that the 2024 ballot measure, if implemented, could cost $325 million a year.
Graham said the previous law “definitely created a business stigma on the state when the convention was canceled.”
“So we were basically an outlier among a lot of businesses around the country,” he said.
