Thirteen years after I first immigrated to the United States, I am finally acquiring legal status. How? By leaving the country.
This was not my plan. I left my home in Mexico when I was seventeen, at a time when the livelihood and safety of many Mexicans were threatened by the drug wars and cartels. After my family received calls from extortioners pretending to kidnap my brothers and me, I fled to the United States.
Since arriving, I have earned a high school diploma, two associate degrees, two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree, and, this year, a doctorate in Animal and Rangeland Sciences (I am also defending a second master’s degree in Statistics and Data Science). I have been offered dream jobs at academic institutions, positions I would have loved to accept. But I couldn’t, because I am still undocumented.
More than eleven million others like me have been waiting for comprehensive immigration reform while trying to do everything right, staying out of trouble and contributing to society and the economy. I have relatives who have been waiting for a legal status and pathway to citizenship for decades.
Unwilling to clean toilets and stock shelves (jobs that got me through my degrees), this year I applied for and was offered a job I wanted and could accept—at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, in Canada.
Canada’s gain is the United States’ loss. Having an advanced degree in an agricultural field is more important than ever as global food security worsens with dynamic weather patterns and accelerating drying and warming trends. I had hoped to use my U.S.-acquired skills to help address these challenges in the United States. Now, another country will benefit from my expertise, even though it didn’t help pay for or support my decade-plus of education.
Though I was never eligible for federal or state assistance, the investment in my career was all in U.S. dollars, from U.S. taxpayers, and fueled by the U.S. economy, through university endowments and non-profit organizations offering scholarships and fellowships for which I was eligible.
Undocumented immigrants account for around $250 billion a year in earnings and tax contributions, according to the New American Economy. Around 1.7 million of them have a bachelor’s, master’s, professional, or doctoral degree. However, the U.S.’s decades-long impasse over immigration policy threatens the many contributions these doctors, scientists, and other specialists can offer. The missed economic opportunity is difficult to quantify since it is unclear how many are working at jobs for which they are underqualified and how many are leaving the country without formal notice. I didn’t have to tell anyone I was leaving; all I had to do was pack up my car and drive across the border into Alberta.
The Biden Administration recently announced a potential pathway to citizenship for some documented and undocumented populations already in the U.S., but this falls far short of what will keep highly skilled workers like me from taking their expertise elsewhere. Lawmakers need to work together to offer comprehensive immigration reform that provides immediate work permits for the highly skilled and educated undocumented population, along with a path to permanent residency or citizenship to incentivize their staying. That is the only way to ensure economic returns on America’s investment in educating highly skilled professionals.
For now, my research and that of my spouse will benefit Canada’s livestock producers and agricultural industry. I hope the U.S., which did such a fantastic job of educating me, will someday figure out how to be as good at retaining others like me. That would be a win for everyone.
This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.