Immigration restrictions are leading US employers to send more jobs offshore

close up of female hands typing on keyboard There’s a common misconception that immigration “takes away” jobs from Americans. Yet, in the age of remote work, that’s less true than ever. On the contrary, restricting immigration can actually result in jobs leaving the U.S., a new survey of human resources professionals at top corporate employers reveals. The Envoy Global-Cint survey finds that “86% of companies hired employees outside the U.S. for roles originally intended to be based inside the country because of visa-related uncertainties.” TO LIBERALIZE IMMIGRATION, STEP UP ENFORCEMENT That’s right: Companies couldn’t bring in the talent they needed because of immigration restrictions, so they decided to just take the job out of the U.S. entirely. That’s a result of immigration restrictions, such as our cap on H-1B visas for high-skill immigrants, that are supposed to be “protecting” jobs in the U.S. This trend looks likely to continue. The survey further reveals that “93% of companies expect to turn to nearshoring or offshoring to fill positions abroad due to immigration barriers and labor shortages in the U.S.” Meanwhile, other countries without such restrictive immigration systems are reaping the benefits of our foolish policies. The companies surveyed said they most commonly relocated employees to Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. This survey isn’t the only evidence we have in support of this trend. Another study from the Wharton School of Business found that “restrictions on H-1B immigration caused increases in foreign affiliate employment … concentrated in Canada, India, and China.” Do we really want an immigration system that boosts our biggest rivals, such as China? “Any policies that are motivated by concerns about the loss of native jobs should consider that these same policies have the unintended consequence of encouraging firms to offshore jobs abroad,” study author Britta Glennon concluded. It’s true that Americans do lose out on job opportunities due to H-1B visas in some cases. But they’re often used to bring in talent where there aren’t any Americans to fill the jobs. And their net effect on the economy is usually so positive that it outweighs any job losses that do occur. That’s why research has found that immigrants on net create 1.2 jobs for every job they “take.” It’s not hard to see why when you remember that entrepreneurial legends such as Elon Musk originally came to the U.S. via H-1B visas. He may well have “taken” someone’s job, but his companies have since created too many thousands of jobs for Americans to count. High-skill immigration is a win-win, not a zero-sum trade-off. Yet, ironically, those who support limiting H-1B visas in the U.S. and otherwise limiting high-skill employment-based immigration claim that doing so puts “America first.” It actually does the opposite, reducing competitiveness and even giving jobs to our biggest rival nations. That’s what I call “America last.” For more information, visit us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/index.html.