In a political environment without an appetite for bipartisanship, efforts originating from other stakeholders will be necessary for immigration reform to occur, according to an immigration expert.
The aging services field — and healthcare, in general — is unique in a few ways, including the fact that it’s ubiquitous, Jon Baselice, vice president of immigration policy for the US Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday during a LeadingAge membership call.
Healthcare providers don’t have the flexibility to respond easily to price signals and pressures, making it more difficult not only to meet their workforce needs but also to continue operating businesses during periods of high inflation, he said.
Add in an antiquated immigration system and it’s a recipe for disaster for long-term care, Baselice added.
No visa programs fit the aging services framework, he said, and two visa pilot programs — H-1A and H-1C, previously available to foreign nationals and nurses seeking temporary employment — were not extended.
“Those chickens of congressional neglect are coming home to roost, very much so in healthcare,” Baselice said, adding that the immigration system has not been upgraded in three decades. “There is no elderly care season. It’s a year-round job. It’s a tough job,” he said.
Visa programs that do exist were created in the 1990s, when business and the economy were vastly different than they are today, Baselice said. He compared today’s immigration system with his first car, a 1986 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon.
“It just doesn’t run well any more,” he said, likening it to the southern border, which he called a “chaotic fiasco.”
“Part of this is due to the fact that we haven’t upgraded our immigration system,” Baselice added.
Two systems are operating in parallel, he said: the government-sanctioned system and the system operated by the cartels, which he called “inhumane” and “ruthless” but also “ruthlessly efficient.”
“Unfortunately, by having an immigration system that is far too small to meet the economic needs of our nation, you’re basically creating business lines for a lot of unsavory people around the world,” Baselice said. “It’s long past time for us to stop being taken advantage of by people who mean to do us harm.”
Working to fix a broken system
To help draw attention to the related plight of aging services providers and other businesses, the US Chamber of Commerce launched the LIBERTY (Legal Immigration and Border Enforcement Reform This Year) campaign, of which LeadingAge is a supporter.
The campaign focuses on six pillars: more resources on the southern border and ports of entry, asylum law reforms, updated employment verification requirements, significantly more visas, a rethinking of eligibility requirements such as seasonality, and new programming.
“It became obvious that unless you start dealing with the border issues preventing us from getting the reforms our members want, you have to get more active on addressing the issues at the border,” Baselice said of the Chamber’s efforts through the LIBERTY campaign.
Immigration reform efforts, he said, have to be “organic” to proceed and secure bipartisan support. An appetite for bipartisanship does not exist right now, Baseice said, so it’s going to take a group of members from Congress to step up and say that they want to accomplish something. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program has the potential to unite members from both sides of the political spectrum, he said.
In the meantime, Baselice encouraged senior living and other operators to share their workforce challenges with members of Congress and create a groundswell of support that they can’t ignore.
“These issues are not insurmountable, but it requires guts,” Baselice said of immigration reform.
