A law firm specializing in injury and immigration matters is concerned about the effect of unspecified “Trump immigration laws” on innovation in technology, but immigration experts say the main workers that will be affected are in the U.S. illegally or brought in to be paid less than citizens – these workers don’t “drive innovation.”
In a study by Brooks Law Firm that details Trump immigration laws’ effect on various U.S. industries, it is stated that the information industry will be the most affected as it employs 416,000 “immigrant workers.”
For perspective, immigrants make up 1.4% of the information industry, according to the study.
Brooks Law Firm is based out of Massachusetts and focuses on injury and immigration matters.
The firm’s study additionally states that education and health services comes in at second most impacted and professional business services at third with 183,500 and 157,600 immigrant workers respectively potentially leaving.
In a statement obtained by The Center Square, founding attorney of Brooks Law Firm Arinda Brooks said of the study, “the rapid reshaping of America’s tech workforce through immigration policy changes threatens to undermine decades of competitive advantage in global innovation markets.”
“Silicon Valley’s success has been built on its ability to attract world-class talent, with immigrants representing more than 57% of STEM workers in the Bay Area and contributing disproportionately to patent filings and venture formation,” Brooks said.
“Without thoughtful policy recalibration that balances security concerns with talent acquisition, the U.S. risks ceding technological leadership to competing innovation hubs in Canada, Europe, and Asia,” Brooks said.
Those in immigration studies disagree with Brooks’ statements, however.
To start with, some of those the Brooks Law Firm’s report calls immigrants are actually illegal aliens, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies Jessica Vaughan told The Center Square.
“No one is talking about eliminating or reducing access to global talent in any field,” Vaughan told The Center Square. “What the Trump administration is doing is addressing illegal immigration, and addressing flaws in our guestworker programs that allow companies to replace U.S. workers with lower-paid foreign guest workers.”
“According to government data, these visa workers are not the cream of the crop or especially talented; most are ordinary, often entry-level or trainee workers who are brought in by staffing companies to reduce labor costs – not to drive innovation,” Vaughan said.
In a similar vein, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies Steven Camarota told the Center Square that “Silicon Valley was created largely with a US-born workforce in the 1960s to the early 80s, which…was a period of relatively low immigration in American history.”
Camarota said that “allowing a huge number of such workers [into the nation] certainly reduces the incentives for business to pressure policy makers and the education system to produce more workers with these skills.”
Vaughan said she has not “observed any proposed changes to US immigration policy that would put American leadership in technology innovation at risk.”
“U.S. companies have access to top global talent, and these individuals are attracted to our country by its innovative and entrepreneurial culture and opportunities,” Vaughan said.
Brooks Law Firm does not specify which new Trump immigration laws it refers to in its report other than citing in its data – “potential Trump-era immigration enforcement policies” – and did not respond to a request for comment from The Center Square.
Vaughan sees Trump’s immigration policies as for the benefit and improvement of the nation.
“The first improvement is to make sure that the rules are followed and that the public can have confidence that our legal immigration system has integrity,” Vaughan said.
“In addition, Trump is ensuring that our visa programs serve American interests, do not disadvantage American citizens, and bring in immigrants who will be self-sufficient and hopefully become contributing Americans,” Vaughan said.
“That approach ensures that immigration will not be a drag on our economy or a threat to our security,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan also told The Center Square that “Americans should be skeptical of claims that we have a labor shortage or a dearth of talent in technology fields.”
“If we did, then salaries would be increasing and workers could be very mobile,” Vaughan said. “There is no evidence of this.”
“Instead we have witnessed the dumbing down of certain aspects of tech work, as employers have been able to substitute visa workers brought in by staffing companies for American workers,” Vaughan said.
