The United States has long required employment-based immigration reform that would patch holes in the system that result in the loss of productive foreign labor. In a new insight, Labor Market and Immigration Policy Analyst Isabella Hindley explains why creating a legal and permanent pathway to employment for Documented Dreamers, as the America’s CHILDREN Act would do, may be a good place to start.

Hindley concludes:

The requirement that Documented Dreamers self-deport when they age-out of their dependent status – and thus cost the United States high-skill labor from which it could have benefitted – is a pertinent reminder that the U.S. immigration system has holes that need patching. Many of these individuals pursue careers in the STEM and medical fields, making them an important labor resource for industries that have a significant number of job openings. The America’s CHILDREN Act patches one of the holes through which the United States loses labor by proposing a solution for dependents of long-term visa holders – a small but important step toward more effective employment-based immigration reform.

Read the analysis