Highly Skilled Workers Now Dominate Immigrant Labor, Study Finds

Thursday, 09 Jun 2011 01:51 PM
By Henry J. Reske

Highly skilled temporary and permanent foreign residents now dominate immigrant labor in the United States, which some say may call for a rethinking of the immigration issue. The shift away from low-skilled foreign workers was documented in a Brookings Institution report that examined census data, The Washington Post reported.

The report found that, regardless of legal status, 30 percent of working-age immigrants have at least a bachelor’s degree, while 28 percent lack a high school diploma. The shift, which has been three decades in the making, reflects the changing face of the American workplace from one based on manufacturing to one based on information and technology, the Post reported.

Benjamin Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council advocacy group, said, “Too often, the immigration debate is driven by images on television of people jumping over fences. The debate has been stuck in the idea that it’s all about illegal and low-skilled workers.â€