Published 8:30 am Tuesday, February 20, 2024
BOISE — Tens of thousands of unauthorized workers make a large contribution to Idaho’s economy, a new study finds.
And that is among the reasons that federal immigration reform is needed, according to leaders of the state Farm Bureau Federation, Dairymen’s Association and Association of Commerce and Industry. They presented the study highlights at a Feb. 19 news conference at the Capitol.
The groups contributed funding to the study by the University of Idaho James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research. The center conducts independent research. Its publications do not contain policy recommendations.
The state had about 35,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2021, the same as in 2005, though some fluctuations have occurred, according to the study. More than half stay for at least 16 years, which leads the U.S. Some 86% are working, compared to the national average of 74%.
Most unauthorized workers are in agriculture, construction and the service industries. They meet labor needs because a sufficient number of authorized workers cannot be found, according to industry professionals cited in the study.
The professionals also reported that businesses “adapt to lack of workers by forgoing business growth opportunities, cutting back production or even closing. Such decisions can have a detrimental effect on the economy.”
While unauthorized immigrants’ exact fiscal impact — the difference between their tax contributions and public expenditures on them — has not been quantified for Idaho, they pay state income, sales and other taxes, and engage in spending that supports jobs and the economy. Their contribution to the state’s economy through their work and spending is “likely in the billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs,” according to the study.
Unauthorized immigrants are ineligible for most taxpayer-funded programs, such as housing and food assistance, Medicaid and subsidized health insurance. And where federal law requires services to be provided regardless of immigration status, federal programs may offset the cost to Idaho partially or fully, according to the report.
Legislators and others at the press conference expressed legal and security concerns but said unauthorized workers contribute to economies and communities even as some send money home.
Idaho Senate Joint Memorial 102 calls on the president and Congress to enact targeted immigration reform. House Bill 510 would require employers to confirm legal employment status by using the E-Verify system.
The U.S. House of Representatives in the last two sessions of Congress passed the Workforce Modernization Act.
State policymakers can take steps to encourage meaningful reforms at the federal level, Alex LaBeau, Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry president, told Capital Press.
Undocumented workers deserve respect, and “what we’re asking for is to ensure that good policy follows good data,” he told news conference attendees.
Farm Bureau wanted unbiased results and to “work with what’s available and what we know, not what we want to believe,” CEO Zak Miller said.
The lack of comprehensive immigration reform hurts the state’s dairy industry — a year-round employer that impacts other ag sectors — as well as small, diversified farms, he said.
“If you’re diversified and need flexibility, there’s no legal mechanism to be able to find workers,” Miller said.
