Economy
AGC Supports Welcoming Skilled Immigrants to the U.S.
Written by Sandy Williams
May 17, 2019
The Associated General Contractors of America applauded the Trump administration’s plan to welcome skilled immigrants to the United States. AGC says the immigration policy would help the construction industry fill workforce shortages.
Trump’s plan would prioritize approval of immigrants based on skill or merit. The points-based system would favor young, educated, highly-skilled individuals who can demonstrate English proficiency, pass a civics exam, and, preferably, have a job offer.
AGC CEO Stephen Sandherr said in a statement: “The president rightly understands that the nation’s immigration policy must allow for more skilled workers, including those with construction skills, to legally join the workforce if our economy is to continue to expand. Considering that this proposal appears to, correctly, redefine the federal government’s definition of skilled workers to include individuals who can perform construction services such as welders and electricians, this measure should provide needed relief to the construction workforce shortages that are already affecting construction schedules and costs. As important, measures like this have the potential to provide needed relief while the industry and public officials work to rebuild the once-robust domestic pipeline for recruiting and preparing young adults to enter high-paying construction careers.”
Sandherr added while the president’s policy did not tackle all immigration challenges, it was step forward in continuing the discussion about reforming a broken U.S. immigration system.
Notably the policy proposal did not address DACA recipients, individuals who arrived in the U.S. as children and were protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. Trump attempted to end the DACA program in September 2017, but was blocked in the courts. In the administration’s latest appeal, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia ruled on Friday that termination of the program was unlawful, affirming a prior ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that DACA was left out of the president’s immigration plan on purpose because of its divisiveness.
Sandy Williams
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