Tag Archives: Pittsburgh immigration

H-1B Op-Ed in Pittsburgh

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H-1B Visa Op-Ed in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 

Yesterday’s edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette contained an important op-ed piece coauthored by regional leaders on the necessity of increasing the H-1B visa cap. The authors are Sandy K. Baruah and Joseph D. Roman and Dennis Yablonsky. Sandy K. Baruah is president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber. Joseph D. Roman is president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Dennis Yablonsky is CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its affiliate, the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. As regional business leaders focused on improving local economies, they forcefully argue that the visa cap is hampering local businesses from achieving their potentials.

They start by recapping the problem. Within the first five days of April (when H-1B petitions for Fiscal Year 2017 are accepted), over 230,000 H-1B applications were filed for 85,000 spots. An H-1B requires the professional occupation to be a specialty occupation and for the beneficiary to be trained in that specialty occupation, requiring the attainment of Bachelor’s or its equivalent. There are a myriad of other requirements necessary for an employer to win its H-1B case. The problem is that 2/3 of cases do not even become cases. They are summarily returned to the petitioning employer.

Here are some valuable quotes:

The Great Lakes region has an acute need for highly skilled domestic and international talent to continue the economic renaissance occurring across our states. This is one of the reasons that the Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition, a group of nearly 40 chambers of commerce covering 12 states in the Great Lakes region, considers reform of immigration for highly skilled workers a key policy goal. Our chambers, and the employers we represent, believe high-skilled immigration is a critical part of the solution to closing the skilled- worker gap.

Encouraging legal, high-skilled immigration is vital for growth and prosperity. Shifting demographics are depleting talent pools and jeopardizing economic competitiveness in many Great Lakes metro areas. The result: serious shortages in the replacement of advanced-manufacturing workers in the Great Lakes. Add to that, in 2015, Midwest states saw STEM job postings total more than 2.4 million, an increase of more than 50 percent from 2014. This growth is happening at a time when many of the Midwest states’ populations are stagnant and our K-12 educational systems are struggling to address STEM preparation. If the rebirth of manufacturing is to help restore the American middle class, an influx of talented, highly skilled professionals is needed. Raising the H-1B visa cap is a critical part of the solution.

According to the American Enterprise Institute, for every H-1B visa approved, 1.83 jobs are created for American workers. This number jumps to 2.62 jobs when looking at H-1B visa applicants with STEM degrees. Moreover, contrary to common beliefs, wages for American workers are not negatively impacted. In fact, as the Government Accountability Office has stated, STEM employment wages are growing much faster than the national average. And virtually all STEM fields have lower unemployment rates than the national average; many are at full employment or lower.

Immigrant Pittsburgh in the 1920s

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Pittsburgh in the 1920s: An Immigration Profile

Pittsburgh is historically renowned for being a key city in America’s manufacturing dominance during the 20th century. In particular, Pittsburgh is known as the Steel City because of the steel industry’s proliferation and success in the region. That period of history in the city’s history continues to resonate, as the football team is called the Steelers and Pittsburgh marathon finishers are called Runners of Steel. The growth of the industry fostered a thriving job market and attracted immigrants to the region looking for work. I attended a lecture that covered Pittsburgh in the 1920s and learned some of the following statistics about the immigrant community in Pittsburgh during the “Roaring 20s.”

  • There were 2 million inhabitants in Pittsburgh in 1920
  • 425,000 of the 2 million inhabitants were foreign born (over 21%)
  • The Italian immigrant community was the largest at 66,000. The Polish population came in second and the Austrian population was third.
  • The largest immigrant populations emanated from Southern and Eastern Europe.
  • There were 678 Asians in Pittsburgh in 1920. That is including the entire continent of Asia. The Immigration Act of 1924 (also known as the Asian Exclusion Act) would go in effect in 1924, effectively ending immigration from Asia. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was already firmly established and being used to exclude US citizens.

The Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning display the rich cultural heritages of Pittsburgh. Nearly 40 nationalities are represented. Many of those nationalities laid down roots in Pittsburgh over a century ago.

If you want to learn more about the nationality rooms at the University of Pittsburgh, click here.