NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Gov. Kathy Hochul has approved temporary government jobs for migrants to expedite the employment process, coinciding with a study revealing immigrants' positive economic impact on New York City announced by the New York Immigration Coalition on Thursday.
A new study by the Immigration Research Initiative predicts that each 1,000 newly arrived immigrant workers contribute $23 million in wages and $2.6 million in state and local taxes in their first year.
Initially, immigrants often work in construction, home health aide, and cashier roles, but as they settle and improve their English, they move into better-paying jobs like nursing assistants and managers, the study found.
With time, this income increases, contributing to the economy through taxes and wages.
“New York State knows the importance of getting asylum seekers to work,” Robert Agyemang, vice president of advocacy for the New York Immigration Coalition, said during a press conference on Thursday. “New York City and New York State must continue to prioritize long-term solutions to support the integration of asylum seekers, leading them to a path of self-sufficiency,”
After five years, these numbers rise to $31 million in wages and $3.5 million in taxes for the same group.
“When we look at demographic trends and historical data, what we find is that these short-term challenges really often convert into long-term growth and tremendous long-term benefits,” Anthony Capote, senior data and policy analyst at Immigration Research Initiative, said during the conference.
The New York Department of Civil Service proposed to ease requirements such as English proficiency and education verification for about 4,000 state positions to address New York's employment crisis which Hochul is backing.
Hochul plans to fill entry-level roles across state agencies, including clerical, technical support, and food service jobs. With the new plan, agencies may remove certain restrictive criteria, such as verifying education, past employment, or English proficiency. This initiative, not limited to migrants, was described as a "win-win" for connecting individuals with jobs, addressing the migrant crisis, and rebuilding the state workforce, according to a Department of Civil Service memo first reported by Bloomberg News.
“I have 10,000 openings in the New York State workforce. From our operations to SUNY, I have 10,000 openings. So this is to give options to people but to say we are working intensely to get work authorization — these are all legal people,” Hochul said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mayor Eric Adams approved of the plan and backed Hochul in her decision.
“People need to work,” Adams said during a press conference. Nothing is more anti-American than not having the right to work."
More than 67,000 migrants are staying in homeless shelters, according to city data. Since spring 2022, 172,400 individuals have entered their migrant intake system, seeking temporary housing and other essential services.
“Providing funding for long-term wraparound immigration services is the best way to ensure that immigrants can obtain long-term status, work authorizations, and access to resources that will include them in our economic life and allow New York City to prosper,” Oriana Shulevitz Rosado, policy and advocacy strategist at Immigrant Arc. said.