Immigrants are playing an increasingly pivotal role in Houston's booming economy, with the support of Texans for Economic Growth and other local business groups. New Americans in Houston outlines the demographic and economic impact of immigrants in the metro area, highlighting their contribution across various sectors.
The report arrives amidst a contentious backdrop, where businesses in the Lone Star State are clamoring for more foreign workers to fill the hundreds of thousands of open positions, from tech companies in Austin to construction projects in Houston. Immigrants constitute approximately 24% of Houston's population, and 11% of Texas's population, and their necessity in the workforce is palpable according to the state's largest business lobbyist. "We need labor," Glenn Hamer, president of the Texas Business Association, said according to a Houston Chronicle interview. "We have more jobs open than people to fill them, every unemployed person could get a job and we'd still have hundreds of thousands of jobs open."
In contrast, the state's Republican leadership is showing an increasing disconnection from the economic arguments for immigration. Their focus is sharply drawn to border security and the recent surge in unauthorized crossings. This rift in Republican policy bears significance given Texas' historical support for immigrant worker programs—a sentiment once shared by former Governor and President George W. Bush. Texas legislators have passed bills like SB4, authorizing state and local police to arrest migrants crossing the border, reflecting an intensified approach to illegal immigration which contrasts with other Republican states assisting immigrant integration for labor needs. Ohio, North Dakota, and Virginia have even set up government offices to help immigrants find jobs and navigate professional licensing procedures.
Yet despite these economic pressures and partisan impediments, the federal response remains in a deadlock, with the Senate recently squashing a bipartisan immigration bill, high-profile Texas Republicans like John Cornyn and Ted Cruz voting against measures seeking to reconcile border security priorities with the expansion of legal immigration programs. Cornyn previously blamed Democratic leadership for holding up efforts to expand the H-1A program for farm workers and said, "I'm not optimistic that we are somehow, all of a sudden going to have an epiphany and figure out how to do comprehensive immigration reform," according to a Houston Chronicle report.
As beleaguered as the legislative scene might be, the economic narrative around immigrants in Houston and the broader Texas region continues to gather support from local initiatives and business communities, with Victoria Francis, a deputy director at the American Immigration Council, telling the Houston Chronicle, "There's a cognitive dissonance happening where immigrants are clearly vital to the state's economy but lawmakers prioritize anti-immigrant policy that creates fear and unwelcomeness in the community."
