‘Dreamers’ repeal could hit Iowa industries

DES MOINES - Some Iowa industries - manufacturing in particular - could lose workers if federal protections for immigrants brought to the United States as children are removed, state business leaders say.

President Donald Trump recently announced he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, implemented under former President Barack Obama, and toss it to Congress instead.

Under DACA, federal law enforcement officials don't pursue for deportation those immigrants who were brought to this country as children illegally by their parents, provided they meet requirements spelled out under the policy.

Should DACA be rescinded, federal law enforcement officers could begin deporting immigrants who have lived in the United States since they were an average of 6 years old, according to a recent national survey conducted by pro-immigration groups.

That could have an impact on Iowa's already tight workforce. Manufacturing stands to be most affected, according to U.S. Census data.

More than 1 of every 10 Iowa workers in manufacturing are foreign born. Of those, more than 3 of 5 are not legal U.S. residents, data compiled by Iowa State University economist Dave Swenson shows.

'If you talk to any manufacturer in the state, I can't believe they won't all say the same thing - and that's that we need more people,” said Mike Ralston, president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry. 'Folks hear the word immigration or changes in immigration policy, and the concern is it will make it harder for people to come to the U.S. or Iowa, and that is a concern for manufacturers in Iowa.”

To be sure, DACA-eligible immigrants are only a portion of Iowa's immigrant workforce.

Immigrants are eligible for DACA protections if they were born after June 15, 1981. That date caps eligibility at 36 years of age. They also must have been brought here before they were 16 and have continually lived in the country since June 15, 2007.

Roughly 2,400 DACA grantees work in Iowa, according to an expert's estimate based on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.

The estimate was cited in a lawsuit brought by 15 state attorneys general, including Iowa's, against the Trump administration over the DACA repeal.

'It's not a very big number,” Swenson said of the DACA grantees in Iowa. 'They, in and of themselves, are not a big fraction of Iowa's workers in terms of foreign born.”

But Iowa business leaders say any changes to immigration policy that could lead to fewer workers will negatively affect the workforce.

'The vast majority of (DACA grantees living in Iowa) are already working and contributing in our state's key industries,” said Mary Bontrager, executive vice president of talent development for the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

Bontrager is responsible for recruiting and retaining talent to the Des Moines area for the Partnership, a collaboration of 6,000 central Iowa business organizations. She made the comments on a recent conference call hosted by New American Economy, a national coalition of local government and business leaders who support immigration reform.

'These young adults have been educated here, prepared themselves for the opportunities that are here in central Iowa, and we certainly cannot afford for them not to continue to be strong contributors to our economy here in central Iowa,” Bontrager said. 'These are bright, hardworking young people who have worked hard to build for the American dream, and we certainly believe that that needs to happen here. So ending DACA and removing protections for these young adults would be a considerable loss for us here in central Iowa and across the state.”

Iowa's agricultural industry also could feel an effect of DACA repeal or other federal policy changes that restrict immigration, although that impact might not be as widespread because the ag sectors most influenced by immigrant labor are a small part of the state's ag footprint.

Dairy farms in particular have a high rate of immigrant workers: Nationally, more than half of dairy farmworkers are immigrants, according to a 2014 study by Texas A&M University's Center for North American Studies for the National Milk Producers Association.

In Iowa, however, dairy farms make up only 1,400 of the nearly 90,000 farm operations.

'Labor is always something that our dairy farmers struggle with. We are constantly going through a flux of employees,” said Mitch Schulte, associate director of the Iowa State Dairy Association. 'Quite a few dairy farmers use immigrant labor, and it's important that we continue to look into that issue to make sure that we do what's best for not only the dairy farmers but all of ag in the U.S.”

The state dairy association's official stance on immigration reform calls for policy that strengthens border security but also strengthens the economy with a 'responsive and effective” guest worker system and keeps families together.

Swenson said that within agriculture, animal feeding operations have a high rate of immigrant workers.

'If we did something drastic with regard to foreign-born people in the U.S., that industry would suffer immediately,” Swenson said.

Swenson and Schulte said immigrant workers are more prevalent in areas of agriculture that find it challenging to hire because of the unpleasant nature of the work.

'The reason that stands out with the food processing is those are jobs that the average Iowan, for one reason or the other, just simply won't do, at least not at the rate they're being paid,” Swenson said. 'They're just hard, dirty, awful jobs. They're not bad in terms of pay; they're bad in terms of the work you have to do.”