Immigration has always been a vital engine of demographic and economic growth in the US general and Houston Texas particular. Immigration has provided labor force, contributed sustainability and electrification of the country. In this regard, the abolishment of national quotas through the "Immigration and Nationality Act" of 1965 resumed the flow of immigration for the last three decades. The immigration brings highly educated, young and motivated people around them and so far the US has been the largest magnet for the migrants. As per the latest Gallup World Polls, more than 150 million people have wished to migrate to the US ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"zd7K4shF","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Giovanni Peri)","plainCitation":"(Giovanni Peri)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":28,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/LJ2EYI6X"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/LJ2EYI6X"],"itemData":{"id":28,"type":"webpage","title":"IMMIGRATION: The Economic Benefits of Immigration","container-title":"Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS)","genre":"Text","abstract":"Professor Giovanni Peri of UC Davis outlines the economic benefits of immigration for the United States.","URL":"https://clas.berkeley.edu/research/immigration-economic-benefits-immigration","title-short":"IMMIGRATION","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Giovanni Peri","given":""}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013",12,16]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",4,17]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Giovanni Peri)
Immigration is the cardinal reason behind Houston’s rapid growth and diversity. Approximately 1.4 million foreign-born population have made almost a quarter of the total population. Since 2000 the foreign-born population has increased just about 60 percent, twice the national rate. According to the 2010 census, the influx of African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians have formed a substantial portion of the population. The three racial and ethnic groups along with other population from around the world have made Houston the most diverse metropolitan region of the world. In fact, Houston has surpassed New York in terms of economic and cultural diversity. Moreover, Houston is one of the strongest labor markets in the US and 2014, the most recent figures estimated that these foreign-born population has contributed more than 116 billion dollars to its economy. In addition, Houston has paid 2.9 billion dollars state and local taxes and has 31.8 billion dollars of spending power.
Despite such contributions, the immigrants face numerous socio-economic and environmental challenges. To say, the average immigrant incomes are considerably lower than that of the Houston-born residents and 20 percent of these immigrants live below the poverty line. In this regard, the Migration Policy Institute has pointed out that the lower income of these immigrants would possibly bring barriers to their access to legal assistance and integration ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"wLIbbnNP","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Nwosu)","plainCitation":"(Nwosu)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":30,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/NPS5IW57"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/NPS5IW57"],"itemData":{"id":30,"type":"webpage","title":"A Profile of Immigrants in Houston, the Nation's Most Diverse Metropolitan Area","container-title":"migrationpolicy.org","abstract":"In 2013 the Houston metro area was home to 1.4 million immigrants—with the nearly 60 percent growth in its immigrant population since 2000 nearly twice the national rate. This report provides an overview of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Houston's immigrants, along with their naturalization rates, legal status, and potential eligibility for immigration benefits such as citizenship or deferred action programs.","URL":"https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/profile-immigrants-houston-nations-most-diverse-metropolitan-area","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Nwosu","given":"Randy Capps","suffix":"Michael Fix, Chiamaka"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015",3,5]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",4,17]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Nwosu). In this regard, The Welcoming Houston Task Force is dedicated to guaranteeing equality for the immigrants regardless of immigration status, length of time spent in the country and country of born. Moreover, 37 percent of the foreign-born immigrants have reported that they either “not well” or “not at all” speak to the English, and this put them to the category of Limited English Proficient (LEP). In addition, 41 percent of them lack a high-school diploma. All these issues put the immigrants to earn 0.74 dollars compared to 1.00 dollars of the Houston-born individuals ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"iXGBPZKY","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Nwosu)","plainCitation":"(Nwosu)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":30,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/NPS5IW57"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/NPS5IW57"],"itemData":{"id":30,"type":"webpage","title":"A Profile of Immigrants in Houston, the Nation's Most Diverse Metropolitan Area","container-title":"migrationpolicy.org","abstract":"In 2013 the Houston metro area was home to 1.4 million immigrants—with the nearly 60 percent growth in its immigrant population since 2000 nearly twice the national rate. This report provides an overview of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Houston's immigrants, along with their naturalization rates, legal status, and potential eligibility for immigration benefits such as citizenship or deferred action programs.","URL":"https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/profile-immigrants-houston-nations-most-diverse-metropolitan-area","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Nwosu","given":"Randy Capps","suffix":"Michael Fix, Chiamaka"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015",3,5]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",4,17]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Nwosu). In this regard, the following is recommended for improving opportunities for immigrants.
Reforming the Visa Program
Many in the tech industry are focusing on improving the H-1B visa program to the foreigners on a temporary basis in a certain specialized field. This will help in bringing talent by making it easier to acquire visas that will result in the creation of more opportunities. This needs to be part of the compressive immigration policy. Apart from that, Houston will have to initiate Startup Visa Programs that will open the doors for entrepreneurs with ideas. Moreover, Houston needs to give green cards to those students who came here for educational purposes so that they could help in economic growth. Those immigrants who are in Houston, the Mayor needs to find ways for their permanent stay by developing comprehensive immigration policy.
Appointment of Special Advisor to the Mayor on Immigration
To expand the capacity building, the Mayor needs to appoint a Special Advisor for immigrants. In this regard, the office of New Americans and Immigration Communities will have to create a resource guide for English classes and language access. In addition, the NAIC should be given resources, power, and authority for refining the contemporary research best practices and bring new ideas and trends in immigration policies.
Increase the Number of Immigrant Representation
On the City Boards and Commission, the number of immigrants needs to be increased who could provide a wide range of issues and topics to Mayor Office. This will give the immigration a greater voice for their community and help in policies made by the councils, committees, commissions, and boards. The immigrants help in reducing the mismatch between the labor and its supply, and local demand as the immigrants are more willing to stay anywhere in the greater Houston area.
The undocumented immigrants
The immigrants who live without documentation needs to be documented. However, this way is significantly long and demanding and circles the right economic incentives for the continuous work in Houston. This will allow workers to be more mobile for jobs with their abilities. This in return likely to increase the wages and productivity ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"cqZlsvff","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(MATT HELMER)","plainCitation":"(MATT HELMER)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":32,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/FTV8ITKV"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/FTV8ITKV"],"itemData":{"id":32,"type":"webpage","title":"The Immigrant Workforce: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Future of our Economy","container-title":"The Aspen Institute","abstract":"The debate on comprehensive immigration reform continues to capture the nation’s attention. The discourse around the debate, however, has been focused on the politics of the issue. As much of the media has focused on what reform may mean for certain politicians and the Democratic and Republican parties, immigrant workers and families have been somewhat …","URL":"https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/immigrant-workforce-challenges-opportunities-future-our-economy/","title-short":"The Immigrant Workforce","language":"en-US","author":[{"family":"MATT HELMER","given":""}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013",8,7]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",4,17]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Matt Helmer).
Conclusion
A comprehensive immigration debate is continuous in Houston and has captured greater attention and it is focused on the socio-political and economic issues concerning the immigrants. While the families of immigrants are somewhat lost in the debate ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"A7tSZsbj","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(CO-SPONSORS)","plainCitation":"(CO-SPONSORS)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":34,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/KDCL6229"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/PlleVRGT/items/KDCL6229"],"itemData":{"id":34,"type":"webpage","title":"Empowering Houston’s Immigrant Families: How to Make a Philanthropic Impact","container-title":"Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees","abstract":"This program pairing will provide funders with an opportunity to learn about the urgency of the current immigration context and its impact on Houston’s communities and immigrant families. Over the two days, funders will have the chance to engage and learn about the many challenges facing immigrants.","URL":"https://www.gcir.org/programs/empowering-houston-s-immigrant-families-how-make-philanthropic-impact","title-short":"Empowering Houston’s Immigrant Families","language":"en","author":[{"family":"CO-SPONSORS","given":""}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018",8,9]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",4,17]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (CO-SPONSORS). Though, the immigrants pay a vital role in society and the economy by providing their services. However, many of these immigrants have been excluded from labor safety protections which the native-born have. It is either because these immigrants are exempted due to their disproportionally employed positions. Currently, the tradition of the nation for immigrants is strong as there are more immigrants in the US than any other part of the world.
Works Cited
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY CO-SPONSORS. “Empowering Houston’s Immigrant Families: How to Make a Philanthropic Impact.” Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, 9 Aug. 2018, https://www.gcir.org/programs/empowering-houston-s-immigrant-families-how-make-philanthropic-impact.
Giovanni Peri. “IMMIGRATION: The Economic Benefits of Immigration.” Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), 16 Dec. 2013, https://clas.berkeley.edu/research/immigration-economic-benefits-immigration.
MATT HELMER. “The Immigrant Workforce: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Future of Our Economy.” The Aspen Institute, 7 Aug. 2013, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/immigrant-workforce-challenges-opportunities-future-our-economy/.
Nwosu, Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Chiamaka. “A Profile of Immigrants in Houston, the Nation’s Most Diverse Metropolitan Area.” Migrationpolicy.Org, 5 Mar. 2015, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/profile-immigrants-houston-nations-most-diverse-metropolitan-area.
