Conservative US state calls for easing of hiring restrictions

Ukrainians, Afghans and Mexicans, among other nationalities, have emigrated to Nebraska, a conservative state in the center of the United States, in search of a new life. Far from the heated debates of the presidential campaign, local companies, short of workers, welcome them with open arms and ask for reform of the legal immigration system to hire more labor.

On the outskirts of Lincoln, the state capital, is the Kawasaki plant, which has a sign hanging at the entrance to its facilities that reads “we are hiring.” Ramiro Avalos, a Mexican who has been working there for two years, came to this city of just 300,000 inhabitants from California with his wife and two children. His job is to inspect the subway cars that will soon be in operation in New York. He says he decided to settle in Lincoln because of “the calm, the low cost of living and because there is very little crime.” “I applied for a job at Kawasaki when I was still living in Los Angeles. I did the interview and they gave me the job.” Like him, a third of the plant’s employees are foreigners.

“Without this workforce, we would have to stop working, turn down orders or manufacture our products in another country,” explains Mike Boyle, director of Kawasaki Lincoln. He hopes that the future president, whether Democrat Joe Biden or Republican Donald Trump, “will work to facilitate legal immigration procedures and bring more people into the country.” Of course, he clarifies that it is not about widely opening the borders: “they are two completely different issues.”

Obsolete rules

Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, has asked Congress in Washington to change the rules of the game for legal immigration, considering the current system obsolete. “Doing nothing would result in a slowdown in our economy,” he warns. To reform the system, Slone proposes granting more work permits and shortening response times: “We need a process that allows people to enter, be controlled, then regularized and benefit from the same quality of life as our grandparents when they came to this country as immigrants.” Immigration is precisely a key issue ahead of the presidential elections on November 5.

After limiting entries at the border with Mexico, President Biden announced regularization measures for spouses of US citizens, young graduates of local universities and the “dreamers,” a term that refers to people who came to the country as children and are not regularized. Meanwhile, Trump, who won 58.5 percent of the vote in Nebraska in 2020, constantly criticizes the Biden administration for its laxity and uses hostile rhetoric towards immigrants.

Slone warns that the issue of “immigration is much broader than the southern border and goes beyond elections and candidates.” He insists that for states like Nebraska it is a matter of survival, since migration helps “communities develop and prosper.”

A report by the Chamber of Commerce stresses that “there are simply not enough people to fill jobs that are essential to the functioning of our society,” such as those in manufacturing, agriculture or services. Mary Choate, from the Center for Immigration Legal Assistance (CLIA), regrets that the process to obtain a work and residence permit “can be very long.”

Nebraska Republican Senator Merv Riepe believes the state “could remedy its labor shortage by becoming a host for migrants.” On the Democratic side, Senator Carol Blood stresses that “the United States needs to establish a better path to citizenship,” have more immigration judges to speed up the timeline, and shift more resources to the border.

In the centre of Lincoln is the family
-run metal manufacturing company TMCO. A third of the 230 employees there are immigrants or refugees. Director Diane Temme-Stinton says that “without a constant flow of immigration, the labour market is tightened” and stresses the need for “more skilled labour”.

Of Nebraska’s 1.97 million residents, 7.1 percent were foreign-born.

Flexible companies

In addition to calling for a reform of the immigration regularization system, companies in Nebraska are also offering a series of benefits and perks to foreigners who want to settle in the state, such as English courses, tailored vacations, accommodation, among others, in order to attract them and help them adapt to their new life, given the shortage of labor. “We demand that everyone here learn English,” says the director of TMCO. The classes are held at the company during working hours and are considered part of the training.

The Kawasaki company, whose factory is nearby, also offers English classes, either on site or at the school. Both employers cooperate with a local association, Lincoln Literacy. Liudmyla Shevchuk, who arrived from Ukraine three years ago, works at Kawasaki: “English is improving. I am learning and working,” she says with a broad smile.

At Kawasaki, work instructions are written in several languages. And when “a group of immigrants arrives, we try to get them to work together,” to give them time to adjust before “dispersing them around the factory,” Boyle explains. “We have modified our policies to accommodate different cultural needs,” such as respecting religious prayers or holidays. In the canteen, menus have been modified to be pleasing to “palates from all over the world.”

TMCO helps its employees with child care, which is a very expensive service in the United States. The company is also training its foreign employees in the intricacies of the pension system. Elsewhere in the state, an Omaha businessman has built housing for his employees, says Slone of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce.

American companies can “sponsor” foreign employees to work legally in the United States. It is a long and expensive process. “Many of our employers would like to hire immigrants and help them obtain their green cards, but the process is too long, cumbersome and expensive,” laments Slone. “For some visa categories, there are years and years of delays,” he adds.

Nebraska, a dream come true for Israel Gomez

Like all migrants, Cuban Israel Gómez Estrada came to the United States with a dream.

He has obtained a residence permit, has a job in Nebraska and hopes to bring his wife and children back for a new life after a “difficult” period.

He has lived in Grand Island, a small town in the rural state of Nebraska, in the heart of the country, for a year and a half. He owns a Cuban restaurant, but tornadoes are frequent and winters are harsh.

Some friends “have suggested that I move, but I am not leaving here,” says the 46-year-old Cuban. In March he received a residence permit (the famous green card) that allows him to work.

Cubans can apply for it one year after entering US territory, unlike other migrants, who must wait years. Despite the language barrier, Israel immediately found work in a slaughterhouse.

Nebraska has a labor shortage and emplo
yers are looking at migration as a possible solution to the problem.

Before leaving Cuba, he looked at job offers on the Internet and saw many opportunities. That’s why he decided to leave the country and his family. He lives in a two-room studio in a white wooden house with several apartments, where other Cubans live.

To reach the United States, he spent 13 days crossing the jungles and rivers of Central America. On the advice of a friend who lived in Nebraska, he chose this region.

But the friend had to move soon after his arrival and Israel was left homeless “in the middle of the snow, without knowing anyone.”

For months he lived in the local Destiny Church, located on the side of a road. There he was helped by the faithful and the pastor, who even gave him a car, which saves him the seven-kilometer walk to the supermarket.

Pastor Tim Rust recalls how he met him. “Israel was here in the country, he wanted to work legally, but he couldn’t.” Since they didn’t speak the same language, they communicated through a cellphone translator. “And at church, he was well accepted. He’s very nice.”

“There are people who may not appreciate it, may not understand it, but, as a rule, businessmen here and the population have a positive attitude towards migrants,” he says.

Two-thirds of Grand Island County residents voted for former Republican President Donald Trump in 2020. Democratic President Joe Biden’s policy “favors us immigrants,” says Israel, who nevertheless considers it positive that Trump wants “people who enter this country to come with something, with the reasoning to work, to contribute, not to attack, not to be violent.”

Julie Chabanas and Cecilia Sanchez – AFP – Grand Island