International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
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to absorb an ever increasing number of low-skilled foreign nationals. In addition,
the US immigration process is biased against low-skilled persons because they pose
a higher risk of becoming dependent on state welfare (Kaushal, 2005). Prospective
migrants applying for visas are expected to provide supportive documents, such
as bank statements and evidence of other assets, to guarantee that they would not
become dependent on safety net programmes in the United States. Because the lessskilled
are less likely to provide sufficient proof, they are less likely to be cleared
through the screening process by the US consulates. Together, these factors result
in fewer less-skilled persons receiving, and even applying for, work visas, and in
a large number of low-skilled persons entering the country without documents or
over-staying their temporary visa time limits.
In general, low-educated persons are less likely to have a thorough understanding of
US immigration laws and more likely to be exploited by employers. In low-skilled
occupations, personal and informal networks are the primary channels through
which individuals living in foreign countries learn about employment opportunities
in the United States. The downside of these personal and informal networks is
that they may restrict migrant workers to ethnic enclaves and thus result in slower
acquisition of US-specific skills that are key to successful assimilation in the US
economy (Kaushal, 2011).
3. Information-related barriers to recruitment of migrants
residing in the United States
Clearly, employers who hire third-country nationals from overseas do so at the risk of
not fully knowing whether the migrants have the required skills. Migrants, educated
and trained in foreign countries, may also not be fully equipped to accomplish
certain tasks that involve culture-specific skills, especially in health care, teaching,
personal service occupations. There is indeed a growing debate among health-care
professionals in the United States on whether foreign-trained nurses provide quality
patient care (Glaessel-Brown, 1998; Trucios-Haynes, 2002; Brush et al., 2004;
Lovell, 2006; Aiken et al., 2001; Flynn and Aiken, 2002). Similar concerns have
been raised by the American Federation of Teachers about the effect of foreigntrained
teachers on teacher quality (American Federation of Teachers, 2009).
Some risks are considerably reduced when hiring third-country nationals who are
already in the United States. For instance, the employers can have several face-to-face
meetings with migrant workers to determine their skill appropriateness. Certain skills,
acquired abroad especially in developing countries, are difficult to measure, resulting
in over- or under-estimation of their value. Studies document that US-educated
foreign-born workers in the United States enjoy an earnings premium over similar
foreign-educated foreign-born workers (Kaushal, 2011). The risk is much reduced in
case of foreign-born persons who arrived at younger ages and have better knowledge
of the United States labour market, greater English language proficiency, and finer
networking abilities than later arrivals. Whereas some skill-related differences decline
as workers gain US work experience, others continue to prevail for years.