Ray Marshall, former US Secretary of Labor
The book Value-Added Immigration: Lessons for the United States from Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, by Marshall, who worked under President Jimmy Carter, and a founder of EPI, primarily draws the lessons from the migration policies of Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, each of which is an “immigration nation” like the United States. It details the lessons American policymakers can learn from the other countries about migration policy as they attempt to improve the dysfunctional immigration system in the US.
Marshall explains that American immigration policy is chaotic and unconnected to specific policy goals. The American system emphasizes family-based immigration, while more effective immigration systems stress economic migration. Marshall identifies seven key lessons that legislators and officials can learn from the immigration systems of Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom:
Lesson #1: Adopt a strategic vision for value-added immigration – Policies to admit foreign workers to the US should have the goal of improving productivity and innovation and overcoming labor shortages. Currently, they depress wages and working conditions in the US and displace American workers.
Lesson #2: Assign high-level federal responsibility for employment-based migration -Responsibility for immigration policy should be centralized in the Department of Labor rather than given to a number of agencies, as it is now.
Lesson #3: Appoint a high-level ad hoc commission to recommend measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the employment-based migration system.
Lesson #4: Create a permanent, independent Commission on Foreign Workers – An independent body that can provide policymakers with objective and evidence-based advice on migration is critical.
Lesson #5: Enact comprehensive immigration reform – Unauthorized migrants in the US undermine legal immigration programs.
Lesson #6: Reform and improve employment-based migration policies and programs – Better employment-based migration programs would add to the nation’s skills and productivity and avoid displacing US workers.
Lesson #7: Reform temporary foreign worker programs – The existing programs lack sufficient oversight and provide little protection for domestic workers.
Secretary Marshall has a long history of administering and analyzing the nation’s immigration and guest worker programs. As Secretary of Labor from 1977 to 1981, Marshall administered the department’s certification of worker shortages and enforced its labor protections.
He commissioned an early effort to develop statistical measures to identify shortage occupations. In the 1980s and 1990s Marshall researched and authored essays on immigration policy, and in 2007 and 2009, EPI published Marshall’s groundbreaking essay, “Getting Immigration Reform Right,” and his book Immigration for Shared Prosperity, both of which are about immigration reform.
American immigration policy is chaotic says new book
India Post News Service
NEW YORK: Lessons for American policymakers to improve the dysfunctional immigration system in the US are highlighted in a new book by Ray Marshall, former US Secretary of Labor, released recently by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
The book Value-Added Immigration: Lessons for the United States from Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, by Marshall, who worked under President Jimmy Carter, and a founder of EPI, primarily draws the lessons from the migration policies of Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, each of which is an “immigration nation” like the United States. It details the lessons American policymakers can learn from the other countries about migration policy as they attempt to improve the dysfunctional immigration system in the US.
Marshall explains that American immigration policy is chaotic and unconnected to specific policy goals. The American system emphasizes family-based immigration, while more effective immigration systems stress economic migration. Marshall identifies seven key lessons that legislators and officials can learn from the immigration systems of Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom:
Lesson #1: Adopt a strategic vision for value-added immigration – Policies to admit foreign workers to the US should have the goal of improving productivity and innovation and overcoming labor shortages. Currently, they depress wages and working conditions in the US and displace American workers.
Lesson #2: Assign high-level federal responsibility for employment-based migration -Responsibility for immigration policy should be centralized in the Department of Labor rather than given to a number of agencies, as it is now.
Lesson #3: Appoint a high-level ad hoc commission to recommend measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the employment-based migration system.
Lesson #4: Create a permanent, independent Commission on Foreign Workers – An independent body that can provide policymakers with objective and evidence-based advice on migration is critical.
Lesson #5: Enact comprehensive immigration reform – Unauthorized migrants in the US undermine legal immigration programs.
Lesson #6: Reform and improve employment-based migration policies and programs – Better employment-based migration programs would add to the nation’s skills and productivity and avoid displacing US workers.
Lesson #7: Reform temporary foreign worker programs – The existing programs lack sufficient oversight and provide little protection for domestic workers.
Secretary Marshall has a long history of administering and analyzing the nation’s immigration and guest worker programs. As Secretary of Labor from 1977 to 1981, Marshall administered the department’s certification of worker shortages and enforced its labor protections.
He commissioned an early effort to develop statistical measures to identify shortage occupations. In the 1980s and 1990s Marshall researched and authored essays on immigration policy, and in 2007 and 2009, EPI published Marshall’s groundbreaking essay, “Getting Immigration Reform Right,” and his book Immigration for Shared Prosperity, both of which are about immigration reform.
India Post News Service
