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July 7, 2005

Yawu Miller

Pundits from government and industry gathered last week to ponder the results of a new study showing that the number of immigrants in the state’s workforce has doubled since 1980.

While most focused on the need to improve access to English-as-a-second-language classes, Rocio Saenz, the Mexican-born president of the Service Employees International Union Local 615, said improving their wages would go a long way.

“If we don’t address the situation of the workplace, they wont be able to take classes,” she said. “If they’re working two or three jobs, they have to decide between taking classes and spending time with their family.”

Many of those who make up Saenz’s union work in janitorial jobs where annual earnings well below a sustainable level. And many come from countries in the Caribbean, central and South America, where English is not commonly spoken.

Of the 406,866 immigrants currently in the Massachusetts workforce, nearly 100,000 have limited English skills, according to the MassInc study, which was compiled jointly with Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies.

Those immigrants with limited English skills earn on average just $14,000 a year. By comparison, immigrants who were proficient in English earned an average of $38,526.

The research found that the majority of immigrants are concentrated in the state’s urban centers. In Boston, where one quarter of all residents were born outside of the United States, seven percent of residents have limited English skills.

While some immigrants come to the state to work in unskilled and low-paying jobs and others work in high tech and other lucrative sectors, the net immigration of immigrants has helped to bolster the state’s population as large numbers of residents have left the state.

Between 2000 and 2004, 172,054 foreign nationals immigrated to Massachusetts, while in the same time period a slightly lesser number of Massachusetts residents left the state. That net increase in population was crucial to the economic well-being of the state, according to the study.

“If we’re going to continue to grow, we’re going to have to do a better job of attracting and retaining immigrants,” said Andy Sum, who works with the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern.

Sum echoed the call to marshal more resources for ESL programs, citing the higher-incomes of English-speaking immigrants.

All participants, including Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan and Verizon Regional President Donna Cupelo, said the Commonwealth should be accepting of the new immigrants. Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development Jane Edmonds cited $7 million in funding the state has allocated for ESL programs.

Jerry Villacres, editor of El Planeta, a Spanish weekly newspaper based in Brookline, urged Edmonds to lobby for passage of other immigrant-friendly legislation.

“I’d like to tell your boss to please sign the dream act,” he said, referring to legislation that would enable the children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition for state colleges. Governor Romney opposes the measure.

State Senate President Robert Travaglini told the immigrant community present at the forum that he and others in elected office are supportive of their needs.

“There are people in positions of power who understand your plight,” he said.

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