Leaders seek to harness migrants’ economic potential

As immigration sets the stage for political battles at the state and national level, a group of leaders are grappling with how best to handle those who have arrived in New York in a bipartisan, apolitical manner.

Those involved in the Ellis Island Initiative say this can be achieved by recognizing their economic potential.

Senior Strategist Steven Choi said Spectrum News 1 as the bipartisan coalition of statewide leaders concludes a series of statewide discussions on how to best harness this potential to benefit both asylum seekers in the United States and the ‘State.

“We want to make sure that people really think about what we can do and how we can ensure that the arrival of these asylum seekers can bring great economic benefit to local communities and the state,” did he declare.

Discussions include leaders from government, business, nonprofits, faiths and labor unions.

Business leaders like Paul Zuber, executive vice president of the New York State Business Council, say the main solution is to leverage these newcomers to fill a significant number of vacancies that remain unfilled. Advocates cite labor shortages across the state, including bus drivers, store clerks and health care positions.

“There are 470,000 unfilled jobs in New York State. What does this mean for businesses? Many of our businesses cannot grow. They don’t have enough people. We are missing taxes for 470,000 people who could be gainfully employed,” he said.

The Ellis Island Initiative seeks to use the knowledge gained from these discussions to achieve a list of goals, including engaging local nonprofit organizations to provide needed assistance, organizing a coordinated community development strategy workforce and use existing skills available to migrants to best benefit the workforce. , among other objectives.