The U.S. Senate this week will discuss the DREAM Act, a bill that would benefit up to 2.1 million young undocumented immigrants â including 160,000 who live in Florida.
High school graduates eligible for the DREAM Act would be required to serve in the uniformed services or enroll and graduate from an institute of higher education. Supporters of the bill have touted the DREAM Actâs economic benefits.
Enterprise Florida is a public-private partnership dedicated to the creation and development of industries that can supply better-paying jobs for this state. Enterprise spokesman Stuart Doyle tells The Florida Independent, âItâs going to be important to have the workforce that business wants for the future. We are for economic development for the state. To be more competitive, Florida needs more higher-wage jobs.â
Doyle says that Enterprise neither supports nor endorses the DREAM Act because the decision is Congressâ, but emphasizes that the state and the nation need the talent base with the skillset and academic background to meet future economic goals.
According to a U.S Chamber of Commerce report (read in full below),
Jobs requiring a bachelorâs degree are anticipated to grow at a faster rate than other occupations, yet occupations that only require short or moderate âon-the-jobâ training will account for about half of all jobs by 2016. Of the top 30 fastest-growing occupations, 18 are in professional and related occupations, and 10 are service occupations.
The Chamber concludes that
highly skilled immigrants tend to have an even greater impact on job creation. Immigrants come to the United States to fill available vacancies, not to take jobs from American workers.
A Research Institute for Social and Economic Policy (RISEP)Â study shows that from 2000 through 2005, immigrants represented about 23 percent of the workforce and that Floridaâs immigrant worker numbers grew significantly as a share of science, maintenance, and social service occupations.
RISEP data also indicates that in 2007-2008 Hispanics residing in Florida represented about 25 percent of the overall workforce, and about 20 percent were employed in professional, scientific, financial, and real estate occupations.
A Pew Hispanic Center 2006 study points out that immigration is the driving force behind the growth for Latinos while a September 2010 report by the Migration Policy Institute, MPI shows there is important growth of immigrant workers in the health, information technology, construction, and hospitality sectors, what the study calls middle-skilled family-sustaining wages.
The Pew study:
The Chamber report:
