A shift in immigration patterns could significantly impact Iowa’s economy, according to experts from the Common Sense Institute.
Ben Murrey, the institute’s director of policy and research, pointed out the broader economic repercussions of a decline in immigration in an interview with Iowa’s News Now on Monday.
The study also discussed the importance of international migration to the state of Iowa, as it has impacted the state’s growth in population. “International migration is the primary source for population growth in Iowa and it has been for some time,” Murrey said.
Murrey and Andrzej Wieciorkowski, a Research Analyst with Common Sense Institute Iowa, used a model that shows the long-term and short-term impact changes in immigration would have on the economy.
“A reduction in the labor force, which then has knock-on effects through the economy,” Murrey said. “You have reduction in personal income. You have reduction in consumption. You have a reduction in production in the economy because you don’t have the labor force to increase productivity.”
Joe Murphy, president of the Iowa Business Council, stressed the importance of maintaining workforce numbers to sustain production levels and keep up the state’s economy.
“We’ve had a labor force situation in the state of Iowa where we’ve not had as many workers as we need to sustain our current economy,” Murphy said. “And we know that as we grow and as the state moves forward, we’ll need even more workers. And so, that’s really where we need an all-hands-on-deck sort of approach.”
Murphy also emphasized the need to fill gaps in the workforce spans across all industries in Iowa.
“It’s not just limited to one or two industries when you think about the workforce needs in this state,” he said. “Every single industry, every single occupation is needed. Whether you’re working in the fields with the farmer, or whether you’re working as a Ph.D. chemist in a bioscience company, these are the workers that we need to sustain an innovative economy in our state.”
Joe Henry, political director for LULAC Iowa, highlighted the critical role of immigrant workers in maintaining Iowa’s economic stability.
“You know, we have a saying here that Iowa feeds the world,” Henry said. “Iowa will not be able to feed the world without immigrant labor. It’s going to create havoc on some of the big economies we have here, again in agriculture, meat packing, construction, as immigrant families attempt to deal with whether or not to stay here or to move to another state.”
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