While the U.S. labor market continues to rebalance from the pandemic, it faces setbacks from immigration.

U.S. officials have pointed to increased immigration as a way to relieve some of the labor shortages and skills gaps in the workforce, and a new survey suggests many Americans may agree.

Over 56% of Americans believe that highly skilled immigrants help the U.S. economy, according to a Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and Morning Consult survey of 2,006 registered voters. However, when asked a more general question about if immigrants help or hurt the U.S. economy, respondents were almost equally divided (35% help versus 32% hurt).

"Our survey didn’t ask people why they felt the way they do, but I think there seems to be a general feeling that people with higher levels of skills or education are more impactful for the economy than those without," Theresa Cardinal Brown, BPC’s senior advisor for Immigration and Border Policy, told Yahoo Finance.

High-skilled migration is defined by the Migration Research Hub as "the movement of persons who normally possess university education (ISCED 5-6), extensive experience, or a combination of the two."

Foreign-born STEM workers are a prime example of high-skilled immigrants, but according to Cardinal Brown, these workers can get lost in the conversation around immigration reform.

"There is a generalized inclination when talking about immigrants to think of either undocumented immigrants or those more visible in the workforce in lesser-skilled jobs such as hospitality, construction, janitorial and other services," Cardinal Brown said.

Misconceptions about high-skilled immigration

Public support isn't necessarily reflected in the number of highly skilled immigrants entering the U.S.

Although migration rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels, they still show a steady drop since 2016. The number of work visas issued in the U.S. hit a record low in 2021 at 201,000, according to estimates from the Census Bureau.

Immigrant visas or permanent resident (green card) application backlogs that piled up during the pandemic decreased last month by 6,000, but there are still more than 300,000 cases waiting to be processed. These backlogs have prevented highly skilled immigrants from obtaining work authorization.

Additionally, there's a lack of knowledge among many Americans about visa processes, which has exacerbated the growing issue.

Over 38% of U.S. voters said they had no knowledge of the average wait time to obtain an employment-specific green card, according to BPC's survey, which may shape public perception of immigration. Depending on nationality and other factors, average wait times for green cards can range anywhere from two years to more than a decade.

"In general, a lack of understanding about the current system results in many voters not seeing changes to that system as a priority," Cardinal Brown said. "It also results in many disregarding the contributions of immigrants or believing that legal entry is 'too easy' and seeking lower levels of immigration. It also affects lawmakers who come to Congress with little or erroneous understanding of immigration or misperceptions about immigrants themselves."

The role of foreign-born STEM workers in the economy

Overall, immigrants play a major role in the U.S. economy. In 2019, immigrants paid over $492 billion in total taxes at a time when they made up just 13.5% of the overall U.S. population. Undocumented immigrants also pay taxes.

Consequently, Ben Gitis, associate director of BPC’s economic policy program, said that reduced migration of highly skilled workers like those in STEM fields leads to "less innovation, reduced productivity, and lower levels of entrepreneurship, all of which will harm job creation and slow economic growth."

As of 2019, immigrants made up 23.1% of all STEM workers in the U.S. at 2.5 million, according to the American Immigration Council. The overall number of STEM workers more than doubled between 2000 and 2019.

Fewer immigrants mean fewer taxes for the government and a lower workforce participation rate, which can cause long-term impacts to federal programs like Social Security, according to the Urban Institute.

The U.S. workforce is also aging — more than one in six Americans are now 65 or older. In highly skilled computer or math occupations, U.S.-born workers will likely reach retirement sooner than foreign-born workers, according to Steven Hubbard, senior data scientist at the American Immigration Council.

"While many jobs will be filled by young people aging into the workforce, demographic trends suggest that the workforce in 2030 will need more immigrant workers," Hubbard told Yahoo Finance. "Because Gen Z is likely to produce fewer people aging into the workforce than will be leaving it, more workers will need to come from abroad to fill the growing shortage of American workers. Otherwise, these positions will go unfilled."

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Tanya is a data reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @tanyakaushal00.

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