(Approved on September 9, 2025) The NJ Business immigration Coalition questions the desirability and effectiveness of mass deportation programs. Such programs are intended to eliminate a serious problem, but they don’t deal with root causes of the problem, and by disrupting families, damaging businesses, and lowering tax revenues, they are creating a host of other problems.
The current U.S. legal immigration system dates back to legislation passed in 1965 and reflects the priorities of an earlier time. Most legal pathways to the U.S. were created for immigrants with close family relationships in the U.S. Only a small number of visas were granted for job purposes. Today, only 16.8% of all permanent resident visas are awarded to immigrants to fill job vacancies, and almost all these visas are reserved for high-skilled and college-educated immigrants. Moreover, the 16.8% includes the immediate family members of such immigrants, so the actual percentage of essential workers is much lower.
In over 60 years, the need for immigrant labor has grown considerably. Among the many reasons: the median age in the U.S. has increased from 29 in 1965 to 39 today, and the U.S. birth rate has decreased to below replacement level. While family unity should remain a fundamental principle of immigration law, the needs of U.S. employers to fill essential jobs are equally important and should inspire a much larger percentage of legal immigrants.
Most immigrant workers aren’t replacing U.S.-born workers; rather, they are making it possible for U.S. workers to hold complementary jobs based on the availability of immigrant labor. The five sectors most dependent on immigrant labor are: agriculture, construction, travel and leisure, manufacturing, and healthcare. Not only are these sectors lacking adequate numbers of immigrant visas, but even temporary visas are either non-existent or in short supply.
The ability of the U.S. to attract and greatly benefit from the contributions of immigrants has been distinguishing feature of the American economy throughout our history. As the world’s population has grown, and the number of people forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence or other issues has risen to 123.4 million at the end of 2024, there is no doubt that the U.S. has to place reasonable limits on the number of immigrants and refugees allowed into our country. However, allowing these visa numbers to remain at current low levels not only damages our economy, but encourages many migrants to enter the U.S. illegally.
While the growth of the undocumented population in the U.S. can be attributed to many factors, including the failures of the American asylum system, and weaknesses in border management, the core problem in our view is the limitations of the legal immigration system, both permanent and temporary. Instead of being hostile to undocumented immigrants, we should recognize that over the years they have met the needs of employers and U.S.-born workers in many industries.
For this reason, the Coalition is opposed to a mass deportation program. Not only does it rob U.S. businesses of essential workers, it fails to address the fundamental cause of the problem: the absence of sufficient opportunities for immigrants to legally fill job vacancies in the American economy.
Given this serious policy dilemma, the best way forward is to open more doors for immigrants to fill vacancies in our economy and to create an earned legalization program for those who migrated to America without permission. Such a program would not grant automatic legal status to undocumented immigrants. Rather, applicants would have to show that they meet several important requirements for legal status, such as a law-abiding record, a positive work record, and filing required income tax returns. Applicants may also be required to pay a penalty fee.
The Coalition supports the deportation of undocumented immigrants with criminal records. However, a broader deportation program makes little sense, as it fails to address the root cause of the problem and does severe damage to the American economy.
Our success as a nation owes a great deal to the diverse talents and contributions of our immigrant population. Indeed, our global leadership owes much to our ability to draw knowledge and strength from residents from around the world. If we are committed to “merit, excellence, and intelligence,” stated values of the Trump administration, then we should not exclude anyone based on race, religion, or nationality. Appreciating the contributions of all our immigrants, both those here legally and illegally, strengthens our unity as a nation.