to 1990, the number of immigrants who could enter the country based on their job skills was limited to 23,000). Priority is given to young (between the ages of 21 and 44), educated and experienced workers. As a result of these and other policies, more than eight million immigrants legally entered the country during the 1980s (Reich, November 1990, p. 60).
With this increase in legal immigration, not to mention the continuing problem of illegal immigration, employers can expect to see immigrants making up a large part of the work force, particularly in urban areas. There are certain advantages to using foreign-born workers in a business, beginning with the reasons that the immigrants are seeking employment.
Today, most immigrants to the United States are economic or political refugees. They have come to the United States to build a better live than what they had in their country of birth, either because the government is repressive or because the economic conditions in their own country are not favorable to their advancement. Many immigrants stay on in the United States after finishing college educations here because the job market is more advantageous than were they to return to their homeland. As a result of these factors, the foreign-born workers are highly motivated to succeed in the American work place.
Some immigrants intend to use the knowledge that they gain from the American work place in their country of origin. These workers are highly motivated to learn and do well in the American job until such time as they can return to their home country and put that information to work. While employers can consider that they are training another country's work force at their expense, the employees represent high quality staff members while they are with the company, and may be unwilling or unable to return to their homeland for an extended period of time. During that time, the employer may find that they are among th...