The Garden State Immigration Policy Institute, a joint project of the New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition and the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, hosts a webinar, “The Impact of Immigration on U.S.-Born Workers,” on Thursday, January 16, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
This event is free and open to the public. Register here.
The webinar features a presentation by professor Zeke Hernandez of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, author of the recently published book, “The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers.” Hernandez’s presentation will be followed by a panel discussion, featuring representatives from New Jersey companies and unions, who will discuss the extent of their reliance on immigrant workers.
The webinar panel discussion features industry representatives and labor specialists, including:
• Megan Chambers, president, NJ State Council, Service Employees International Union.
• Ramya Devan, professor of economics at Stockton University
• Marilou Halvorsen, vice president, American Hotel & Lodging Association.
• Lori Jenssen, executive director, NJ Nursery & Landscape Association.
• Michele Siekerka, president and CEO, NJ Business & Industry Association.
They will discuss key questions facing Washington policymakers on the impact of immigration on U.S.-born workers such as under what circumstances does immigration strengthen the overall economy, including job prospects and earnings? And when might immigration harm the interests of U.S.-born workers?
“This program will offer valuable insights into labor conditions in New Jersey and the role immigrant workers will play in our state’s future economy,” says Nicholas Montalto, coordinator of the NJ Business Immigration Coalition. “The webinar will provide local context to economic and immigration issues in New Jersey with its significant immigrant workforce. Our speakers will contribute to a more informed conversation about immigration’s role in shaping the labor landscape both at state and national levels.”
Hernandez, the keynote speaker, has wrestled with questions of immigration since long before doing so become his job. He explains his path to the United States in the introduction to his book:
“I’m from Uruguay, a small country wedged between Brazil and Argentina. The year I was born, my father started working for our church. Not as a minister, but in an office job managing financial records. When I was four, he was transferred to Central America, where we spent six years in Costa Rica and Guatemala, followed by three more in Argentina. My father didn’t get paid much, but the job came with one perk that would shape the rest of my life: attending English-speaking schools that were otherwise unaffordable.
“Learning English paved the way for me to apply for college in the US. When I returned home from Argentina with a letter of admission and a full-tuition scholarship, my family and friends were certain that studying in America was a no-brainer. Few kids where I grew up could even fathom such a chance. But I had serious doubts about whether migrating was the right thing to do. The usual concerns about leaving loved ones behind and building a new life gave me pause.
“But more than anything, the morality of immigration gnawed at me. Would I be stealing something from [a deserving American]? Was I copping out by choosing a cushy life in America instead of taking the harder path of staying behind to make a difference in the lives of people like those I’d met in Buenos Aires? Was my purpose manifested in being born and raised in Latin America, or in the rare chance I’d had to learn English and now study in the US?
“Emigrating would likely be good for me, but would it hurt others — both from where I’d leave and where I was going? It was, on a personal scale, the same raging debate we’re having about immigration in America and everywhere around the world these days.”
Hernandez did decide to come to the U.S. for college and has been here for 25 years. He studied accounting and worked for a technology company before returning to school for a PhD in business. He is an associated professor at Wharton, where in addition to his work at the intersection of immigration and investment, he also researches how firms design corporate strategies.
His book discusses his findings in 20 years of research on immigration, many of which would surprise those who follow only politicians’ talking points on the issue and what is reported in the mainstream media.
For example:
• “Most people link immigrants with jobs (usually negatively). But almost nobody links immigrants to investment, which is critical for job creation. You’ll understand how the immigration-investment-jobs triangle is essential for our prosperity. Many acknowledge that skilled immigrants contribute to “highbrow” innovations via patents or tech start-ups. But in fact, they’re just as critical to “lowbrow” innovations that affect the things you do and consume every day.”
• “The immigrants who most successfully assimilate are those who preserve rather than abandon their original culture — which in turn renews and strengthens our own national culture. You’re much safer with more rather than less immigration. The real national security and crime problems arise from keeping immigrants out. Our difficulties welcoming newcomers are rooted in psychological biases that a small band of politically motivated groups manipulate.”
“The Truth About Immigration” was published by Macmillan in June, 2024. It is available on Amazon, $18.88.
