There are many names for immigrants in the work force. But, a little advice here, don’t say “illegal aliens” in front of Sister Jane Hauptman. She will quickly correct you.

“I hate when I hear that. It makes them sound like they are from outer space and illegal,” she said. “They have not committed crimes and they are not from outer space.”

Hauptman who worked many years with undocumented workers in Chester County, and in other U.S. states, has insight into immigrant workers that many people don’t have. She has cared for that population in migrant camps, and she actually spoken in front of elected officials on the subject. The immigrants she worked with were from all parts of the world.

As a nun from the order of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, she took a vow of poverty and never looked back. She worked in migrant camps along the eastern shore as a nurse and nun, healing the body and the soul. She worked as a nurse in South American countries or wherever she was needed. She also worked with the immigrant population in Chester County for many years as they were trying to get legal status in this country. Truth be known, she still champions the under-served immigrant population.

Hauptman said, “One thing that might surprise some of the U.S. citizens is that immigrants come here because they are brought here to work jobs that people in this country don’t want to work, and they have been brought here for years.”

One person that worked in the farming industry for years, who wishes to remain anonymous, said, “During my travels through farms all over this country, I saw many immigrants working in the farming industry. The farmers depended upon them. It was a generational thing, where immigrants would come back every season. Eventually, the farm would change to the next generation and then the immigrant would do the same. Farmers would see the next generation of farm workers. We couldn’t have done it by ourselves. We’ve known these immigrant families and depended upon them for years.”

A recent bus accident in Florida backs up the continued and widespread use of migrant farm workers. PBS and many news agencies reported about an accident in May, where eight migrant workers died, and at least 40 were injured after a pickup collided with a farmworker bus in central Florida. The converted school bus was transporting 53 farmworkers at about 6:40 a.m. when it collided with a 2001 Ford Ranger in Marion County, about 80 miles north of Orlando, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The workers had been headed to Cannon Farms in Dunellon, which were harvesting watermelons.

The Florida Highway Patrol arrested the driver of a pickup truck that crashed into the farmworker bus on charges of driving under the influence-manslaughter.

Federal statistics show that vehicle crashes were the leading cause of job-related deaths among farmworkers in 2022, the latest year that this statistic is available. They accounted for 81 of 171 fatalities.

According to the U.S Department of Agriculture the H-2A temporary agricultural workers program, often called the H-2A visa program, helps American farmers fill employment gaps by hiring workers from other countries.

Immigrant farmworkers are estimated to account for 73 percent of agriculture jobs in the U.S. today. All across the U.S., farm labor is a critically necessary job that puts food on our tables, propels the economy and sustains our communities. Farms are going out of business because they lack the workers necessary to keep the business profitable.

According to the Council on Immigration, between 2017 and 2022, the number of certified H-2A workers, those who are requested by employers and then certified by the DOL (Department of Labor), grew by 64.7 percent, from 224,965 to 370,628. This dramatic increase underscores the agricultural sector's growing reliance on temporary foreign workers to fill the open jobs.

However, DOL certification of an H-2A request does not necessarily lead to the issuance of a temporary work visa. After certification, both the employer and worker must complete the USCIS approval process before the worker can begin employment in the United States. In recent years, about 80 percent of jobs certified as H-2A have resulted in visas.

Recently, the Council released a new report on the “Expanding Role of H-2A Workers in U.S. Agriculture” which includes important new findings about the H-2A Temporary Agriculture Worker Program that allows U.S. employers that face a shortage of domestic workers to hire foreign nationals for temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs. An American Immigration Council analysis of Department of Labor data reveals significant demand across the country for H-2A workers—and their vital support to America's food production.  
H-2A workers endure many challenging work conditions, but perhaps most notable is the heat. An analysis by the Council of Department of Labor data finds that 13.7 percent of certified H-2A laborers are required to work during months when the average local temperature exceeds 90°F (32°C). In warmer states like Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico, and Texas, more than 1 in 4 certified H-2A workers work in those temperatures on a consistent basis.

And farming is not the only industry that needs help from large numbers of immigrant workers.

In 2018, almost 2.6 million immigrants, including 314,000 refugees, worked in health care, with 1.5 million working as physicians, registered nurses, and pharmacists. Certain healthcare jobs are overrepresented by immigrants. Even while immigrants make up 17 percent of the total civilian workforce in the United States, they account for 28 percent of physicians and 24 percent of dentists, as well as 38 percent of home health aides.

The construction business is attractive to new immigrants as a potential source of employment. Employers, managers, and landowners have profited from their presence by utilizing their talents and by boosting productivity. Immigrants in the construction business typically work in cement masonry, carpet installation, carpentry, and painting, among other areas.

The percentage of immigrant workers in the construction workforce is rising, according to an analysis of the most recent American Community Survey. Immigrant workers constitute nearly 25 percent of the overall construction workforce, accounting for an average of 30 percent in the construction trades.

In manufacturing and production in the U.S., approximately 2.1 million immigrants work in jobs like farming, collecting, processing, and selling food, and in food services. These working immigrants play an important part in feeding America. 

While immigrants made up 17 percent of all civilian-employed workers in the U.S. between 2014 and 2018, they played a disproportionate role in food production, accounting for 22 percent of workers in the United States’ food and production supply chain. They have considerably greater representation in some food-related vocations and in specific states. 

Also, in transportation in 2012, immigrants made up 13 percent of the total U.S. population, but made up 15.7 percent of the total number of working truck drivers. 

Certain states, such as California (46.7 percent), New Jersey (40.4 percent), Florida (32.2 percent), and New York, had a disproportionately high number of immigrant truck drivers (25.7 percent). The study brief relied on data from the American Trucking Association and the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, “Who’s in the driver’s seat?” 

Immigrants are filling labor shortages in the trucking business in the United States. The trucking industry is the backbone of the U.S. economy, with trucks transporting 70 percent of all freight tonnage inside the country. However, due to a high turnover rate and an aging native-born population, the sector faces chronic personnel shortages.

Immigrants are also involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Workers are becoming increasingly vital in the U.S. economy. STEM vocations are crucial to the country’s creativity, and STEM professionals are responsible for many of the cutting-edge ideas and technologies that create employment and boost household incomes in the United States. Foreign-born employees make up a significant proportion of the STEM workforce in the United States. According to the Department of Labor the top jobs for immigrants in the U.S. in 2024 are

construction, agriculture, architecture and engineering, hospitality, and healthcare.

All of this is certainly something to consider when discussing the immigrant workforce. If they are needed in these vital industries, what happens when that immigrant work force is cut? Who will step up to fill those needs? What would the economic impact be to the entire country?

According to the Chester County Ag Council, Chester County is ranked first in the entire country for mushroom production by county. The majority of Chester County mushroom farms are multi-generational family farms in their third-, fourth- and even fifth-generations.

It is demanding work to produce consistent, high-quality mushrooms, but the local mushroom industry has been paying wages exceeding the minimum wage for over two decades. The industry owes much of its success to immigrant workers, many of whom come from Mexico. But, contrary to some misconceptions, all workers must provide documentation of eligibility to work in the United States before beginning work on a mushroom farm.

According to the 2019-2020 Mushroom Crop Report, mushroom sales from the approximately 50 mushroom farms in Chester County totaled about $398,000,000. With the addition of sales from specialty mushrooms, it is evident that the industry is significant to the county. So the question is: Without the immigrant workers in Chester County, would the economy be affected?

Moreover, according to a story by Greg Iacurci published recently by CNBC, “Immigration is “taking pressure off’ the job market and the U.S. economy,”

Foreign-born workers made up 18.6 percent of the civilian labor force in 2023, up from 15.3 percent in 2006, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. While immigration poses some obvious challenges, it’s a net benefit to the U.S. economy, economists say. Without foreign-born labor, the U.S. labor pool would shrink because of lower birth rates and an aging workforce here in the United States, making it harder to fund programs such as Social Security.

So should we be careful what we wish for? Without the immigrant workforce in this country, do we know what would happen to the economy, or the effect on programs like social security Would fewer immigrants negatively affect agriculture in this country? How about other jobs such as construction, health care, hospitality, etc. Who would step up and fill the hole created with the decline of the immigrant workforce? Perhaps the most important question is, if we lost the immigrant workforce, would we also lose the immigrant spirit?

A recent fire in downtown Oxford displaced a number of immigrant families. Many local agencies assisted those families that had lost everything which resulted in finding them shelter in a local hotel. During that time, one of those persons helping was Peggy Ann Russell, who is on the Oxford Borough Council and also is a member and one of the founders of ACE, Advocating, Collaborating, Educating, the Anti Human Trafficking Alliance of Oxford. Her interaction with those families left a lasting impression upon her. She wrote this statement.

The Oxford fire has left an imprint on my heart that I will preserve for the rest of my life.

Responding to the realization of how vulnerable the victims would be in a public hotel setting, I volunteered to spend the days with them.  As a member of ACE (Advocating, Collaborating, Educating) Anti-Human Trafficking Alliance of Oxford, it was an easy decision.  We learn all too often how people living in a public area, or even playing in a public playground, can be victimized.

Being with the fire victims, most of whom I did not know but one I had actually taught in a Sunday School program, reaffirmed in my mind the tremendous strength and courage of the immigrant.  Not speaking the Spanish language was a huge hindrance for me but with the translator app and the interpreters that SILO arranged to have present, we made friendships. We actually made bonds that will continue long into the future.

The one thing that stands out is their joy!  These are people who had just watched every little treasure from their home country, every dollar, every document, and every piece of clothing go up in smoke.  They walked away from the fire with pajamas on, with cuddled babies and dogs in arms.  And yet, there was joy!  There was gratitude!

Every time I offered to make a waffle at the breakfast buffet, there were expressions of gratitude.  For every trip to a local store to replace an essential, for every after school snack, for every encouragement to take a second helping of the delicious dinners donated and delivered by local restaurants and food booths, there was gratitude!  And, did I mention the smiles?  Yes, there were smiles!

The greatest learning from this experience is that one cannot steal the joy of the immigrant!  You may see their happiness tarnished but not their joy.  Their joy comes from a deep faith in a higher power and they live what they believe.

As I decorated my Christmas tree, believing that my life was back to normal, I had tears on my face as I placed each treasured ornament on the tree.  The memories of the moments with the people associated with the ornaments, some handmade, flooded my heart.  The realization that the fire victims—although having new trees and new ornaments thanks to the generosity of the community—have no memories to surface and caress as they hold a new ornament to decorate the tree. My tears were for them and I realized that together we are entering a "new normal." 

We must remember to be very sensitive to the trauma they experienced and to the long term effects of that night.  But, let us remember, too, their courage, their strength, their smiles, their gratitude and their joy!  Let them be an inspiration to us as we journey forward together—a stronger community filled with love.  Although I was involved as a member of ACE, I am also a council member of the Borough of Oxford, and I am very proud of the community members of our borough and surrounding municipalities.

If we chose to lose the immigrants from this country, yes, it would affect our economy. Would it also affect the farming industry and create a food shortage? Would the construction industry find workers? Would our health care suffer due to the lack of health care workers? What about the hospitality industry? Would restaurants, hotels, and vacations spots shut down? 

There are many things to consider when talking about immigration. But I wonder what the greatest loss would be. Would it be the indomitable spirit of the immigrant, the very essence and foundation of this country? It’s just a suggestion, but maybe, just maybe, we should be careful what we wish for.