The Institute for Progress argues that reforming U.S. high-skilled immigration policy is both economically and strategically imperative. The report highlights that although high-skilled immigrants make up a small share of the overall workforce, they contribute disproportionately to innovation—such as high shares of U.S. patents and Nobel Prizes—and that the U.S. is losing its competitive edge as talent opts for other destinations (e.g., Canada). The authors propose concrete legislative and executive reforms aimed at modernizing visa pathways, reducing backlogs, and aligning immigration policy with economic needs, stressing that high-skilled immigration is among the most politically defensible forms of immigration and offers large economic returns.

This Niskanen Center paper identifies the existing workforce crisis in U.S. healthcare—characterized by shortages in physicians, nurses, aides, and home care workers—and argues that immigration policy can play a pivotal, near-term role in alleviating it. It highlights how immigrants already comprise a substantial portion of the healthcare workforce (e.g., about 18 % overall) and presents specific policy reforms: reallocating unused medical-resident visas, easing licensure for internationally trained professionals, expanding programs for elder care aides, reforming visa priority lists, and recapturing unused green cards. The report stresses that while domestic training pipelines remain vital, immigration offers an under-leveraged tool to sustain access to care and improve health-system outcomes for all Americans.

This 2025 report by the American Immigration Council highlights the crucial role of immigrants in New Mexico’s healthcare system and the growing workforce shortages across the state. Immigrants comprise 9.9% of all healthcare workers and 15.4% of physicians and surgeons, despite being only 9.1% of the state’s population. Job postings for nurses rose 96.7% between 2019–2023, while those for oral hygienists increased 222.4%. The report urges New Mexico to follow states like Colorado and Minnesota in reducing barriers for international medical graduates and internationally trained healthcare professionals, emphasizing that immigrant workers are vital to sustaining healthcare access as the population ages.

This Global Detroit report presents 13 years of data on international student participation in Michigan’s workforce through the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. Between 2004 and 2016, Michigan employers hired over 40,000 international students—an increase of 330 percent — with STEM graduates comprising the majority. It demonstrates how international students contribute to Michigan’s innovation economy, research output, and university tuition revenue, while helping fill critical talent gaps. The report also documents the success of Global Detroit’s Global Talent Retention Initiative (GTRI) and Global Talent Accelerator (GTA), which connect international students with employers and enhance career readiness through soft-skills training. Recommendations include expanding GTRI statewide, investing in university career support, and embedding global inclusion into corporate diversity strategies.

Shorelight’s June 2025 analysis estimates that a 20 % decline in new international student enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities could result in a loss of over $1.7 billion annually in tuition revenue. Over a student’s full academic pathway this could approach $5 billion in lost revenue. The article emphasizes that the implications extend beyond institutional finances to broader local economies: fewer students mean fewer jobs, reduced research capacity, and diminished U.S. competitiveness in the global talent market.

This Urban Institute piece argues that mass deportations of undocumented immigrants would exacerbate the U.S. housing crisis by reducing the construction workforce, thereby slowing housing development and driving up costs. Immigrants composed over 23% of the construction workforce in 2023, and enforcement-driven removals would significantly shrink this labor pool. In states with large foreign-born construction worker shares—such as Texas and California—the impact would be particularly acute, making it harder to meet housing supply needs and undermining efforts to make housing more affordable.

This report by IRI uses recent ACS data to highlight dual realities: immigrants in the U.S. economy play a substantial role—accounting for about 17% of economic output—while still facing significant labor-market hurdles. Though many immigrants work in middle- and upper-wage jobs (for example 17% of immigrants earn over $104,000) , a disproportionately high share (35%) are in low-wage jobs under $35,000 compared with 26% of U.S.-born workers. The report finds that race, gender, immigrant status and credential recognition issues shape these outcomes. It also underscores that while immigrants bring strength to many sectors and occupations—ranging from computer science to construction trades—barriers such as credential transfer, licensing, language, and discrimination persist.