Study dives into how legal immigrants can boost North Dakota workforce

New U.S. citizens recite the pledge allegiance after taking an Oath of Citizenship to the United States in a naturalization ceremony in Fargo on Dec. 12, 2023. A new report has recommendations for the Office of Legal Immigration to address North Dakota's worker shortage. (Dan Koeck/For the North Dakota Monitor)

Hey Chicago and New York, North Dakota could use some of your immigrants.

A consultants’ report to the recently created North Dakota Office of Legal Immigration recommends the state target foreign-born workers living in immigrant-inundated cities to address the state’s workforce issues.

The possible solution was listed in a 100-page report published Wednesday by the Department of Commerce.

Other innovative workforce solutions identified include partnering with universities to retain eligible international students after graduation and piloting partnerships to help bring registered nurses and other highly educated workers with H-1B visas to North Dakota.

Janna Pastir, workforce deputy director for the Department of Commerce, said in a statement the study will help develop goals and strategies for the Office of Legal Immigration, which the Legislature created in 2023.

“We are proud of the thoughtful and comprehensive method being used to address this vital approach to integrating new Americans into our workforce and communities,” Pastir said. 

Pastir said the office has connected with job processing centers in New York to learn about their vetting processes, the skills and language levels of candidates and how employers can share job openings with qualified candidates. She said it’s ultimately up to employers how they want to fill their jobs.

The report, by consultants Labor and Mobility Partners and Dalberg Advisors, recommends that North Dakota “lean into its history as a welcoming state” to alleviate labor shortages.

In 1915, 79% of all North Dakotans were either immigrants themselves or children of immigrants compared to 2022, when only 4.9% of the state’s population was foreign-born, the report said. North Dakota has the 12th lowest immigrant share of its total population.

The report highlights, as of September 2023, North Dakota has 100 open job positions for every 30 unemployed residents. In total, the state has 26,000 open positions, which is a 50% increase since 2018, and holds one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country – 1.9%.

Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, authored Senate Bill 2142, which established the Office of Legal Immigration. He said foreign-born workers are already filling some of the jobs across the health care and elder care industries, but more are needed.

“They are the ones changing the bedpans … and providing those services,” Mathern said. 

Mathern said he’s been involved with refugee resettlement issues for almost 50 years dating back to the fall of Vietnam.

“There are these people who want a peaceful life and they want to work and they want to raise their family, and we’ve got that space, we’ve got jobs and we’ve got opportunities,” Mathern said. “We have more capital than we have people to use the capital.”

He also said the fight over creating the Office of Legal Immigration occurred in the Legislature already and now is the time to move forward with addressing the underlying issues.

“I hope the fight is over and people are on board,” Mathern said. “I hope that now it’s more a matter of taking steps forward and it’s not a matter of rehashing the public policy that we need more people.”

The report lists possible barriers for integrating and retaining more foreign-born workers, including overt discrimination, lack of access to public transit, lack of funding and language difficulties, among others.

Pastir said recruiting foreign-born workers can be more challenging for employers because of federal immigration processes.

The report also made recommendations to develop a grant program aimed at supporting “eligible employers and community-based organizations in their efforts to recruit, retain, and integrate new Americans in North Dakota,” according to the grant program website.

The report suggests a budget request should be made by the office during the 2025 legislative session based on the initial findings and conversations with pilot grant recipients.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to add comments from Janna Pastir, workforce deputy director for the Department of Commerce.

The post Study dives into how legal immigrants can boost North Dakota workforce  appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.