Report finds US leaving $3.9 trillion in GDP growth on the table

The US is missing out on trillions in economic gains thanks to worsening green card backlogs, according to projections from the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Roughly 7.6 million people are stuck in queues for lawful permanent residency—the majority of them new potential immigrants to the US who are stuck outside the country. Reducing green card barriers for those new entrants and for workers already in the US on temporary visas would add $3.9 trillion in gains to gross domestic product over 10 years, the BPC estimates in a report released Wednesday.

Annual quotas on the number of green cards issued each year and on the share that can go to immigrants from any one country mean decade long waits for countries with high volumes of demand.

In the employment-based category, just 140,000 visas are available, fueling long wait times to secure permanent status for workers from India and China. And the 226,000 visa limit for the family-based category similarly feeds long queues for immigrant hopefuls in Mexico and the Philippines.

While processing delays have exacerbated backlogs in recent years, those annual caps account for the majority of immigrants waiting to secure a green card. The State Department and US Citizenship and Immigration Services determine when immigrants are eligible to apply for green cards based on the date of their immigration petition and the number of available visas.

Although the report finds that the impact of adjusting status may be understated for immigrants in the US on temporary visas, nearly 99% of the economic gains from reducing current green card backlogs would come from adding new arrivals to the US. That’s a function of potential immigrants filling millions more job vacancies unfilled by US workers, Malde said.

“We have severe workforce shortages that are only getting worse as the population ages,” he said. “We’re in need of new workers. And immigrants bring lots of skills and knowledge that complement our existing labor force.”