Immigrants Get the Job Done! Immigrants Are About 1/3 of California’s “Essential Workers”

A new Cato at Liberty post by immigration policy analyst David Bier about how many of California’s “essential workers” are immigrants. In response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order and the closure of all “nonessential businesses” as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bier reviews the employment demographics of those businesses likely to be deemed essential. 

He finds about 4.6 million immigrants would be classified as essential, constituting 33% of all the states’ workers labeled as such. This analysis makes clear that immigrants are critical to helping California survive the challenges brought on by COVID-19:

One noteworthy essential subindustry is manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and medicines where 42 percent of its labor force in California were immigrants. Immigrants were the same share of the workforce for manufacturers of medical supplies. Another noteworthy example is grocery wholesalers—nearly half (48 percent) of its workers are immigrants in California. Similarly, 46 percent of the workers at California’s nursing care facilities—which are on the frontlines of protecting the elderly from COVID-19—are immigrants.

KJ