With Workers Hard To Find, Immigration Crackdown Leaves Iowa Town In A Bind
President Trump recently unveiled the outline to a “skills-based” immigration reform proposal. One of the problems with the proposal is that the demand for low- and medium-skilled workers remains high and the President’s reform proposal would do little to help.
NPR reports on debate about immigration in the heartland of the United States. A year ago, federal immigration agents swept into the Midwest Precast Concrete plant in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and arrested 32 undocumented workers. The raid s at the center of an immigration debate — and an economic problem — in this Iowa community and nationally.
Mount Pleasant is in Henry County, where the 2.3% unemployment rate is so low that employers are struggling to fill 300 open jobs. The debate in Mount Pleasant mirrors one taking place throughout Iowa, which has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the United States.
Many business leaders worry about a message that Iowa doesn’t want immigrants. In February, business leaders formed the Iowa Compact on Immigration, a group aimed at underscoring the positive role that immigrants can play in the state’s economy. But such arguments are swimming against the political tide in Iowa, where opposition to illegal immigration remains strong.
KJ