Introduction
Today’s era of strategic competition, anchored by the U.S.-China rivalry, requires a whole-of-government approach to economic security. Policies to de-risk critical supply chains, diversify sources of inputs away from Chinese dominance, and increase domestic production of key goods tackle ambitious goals, and the United States must consider every economic and trade step through the lens of competitiveness. The U.S. government has already employed a broad set of tools to prop up its strategic sectors: it has undertaken ambitious industrial policy packages, enacted targeted trade barriers, and expanded rules to curb transfers of critical technologies to entities of concern. Economic tools are now squarely serving national security interests.
Immigration policy will be a key policy discussion point in 2025. Conservative decisionmakers have emphasized protective measures—from continuing to erect barriers on the U.S. southern border to mass deportation plans—and signaled some openness to legal pathways to entry. As the future Trump administration continues to work out the details of its immigration strategy, it would be worthwhile to consider how the issue can be viewed as an element of U.S. economic security. To that end, the United States should create a legal pathway for foreign job seekers in specific sectors critical to U.S. economic security. The United States needs a strategic sector visa.
Defining Strategic Sectors
Pointing to specific industries that should fall into the “strategic sectors” category can be challenging. Multiple segments of the economy are now closely tied to national security, and they all require a robust labor supply. Strategic sectors can be defined as industries in which the United States has aimed to significantly scale up domestic production—including through ambitious subsidy packages—given their significance to security and economic competitiveness, as well as sectors that are particularly vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. Policymakers have attempted to define which industries fit the bill, from the White House America’s Supply Chains reports to the International Trade Administration’s Supply Chain Center. These have included the following:
- food production
- critical minerals and mining
- energy industries, including advanced batteries and nuclear
- health industries, including medical devices and active pharmaceutical ingredients
- information and communication technology products, including semiconductors
- transportation and logistics, including shipbuilding and repair
In some cases, such as ICT products, these sectors have a wide range of civil and defense applications. For instance, AI can support a more efficient production of medical products, but it can also enable drones to fly in complex formations on the battlefield. Others, such as food production, are essential to supporting life in the United States, and prolonged disruptions would entail catastrophic consequences. An acute agriculture supply shortage can provoke grocery store price hikes around the country.
Immigration’s Importance to Strategic Sectors
Most of the fields above already have a demonstrated need for a tailored legal immigration pathway. These sectors are set to face increasingly dire labor shortages that will likely have significant implications for the United States’ prosperity and security: in some cases such as healthcare, burnout rates are high, whereas others—including mining—have failed to attract young applicants. Moreover, immigrants have already shown their ability to contribute disproportionally to many of these fields. For instance, immigrants made up nearly a quarter of all STEM workers in 2019, a sharp increase from 16.4 percent in 2000.
The presence of foreign-born workers is particularly notable in engineering fields, where immigrants represent substantial portions of various sectors, including computer hardware, electrical, and biomedical engineering sectors. In higher education, a substantial number of international students earn advanced degrees in STEM fields, with 83 percent of doctorate degrees earned by temporary visa holders concentrated in science and engineering disciplines. However, many of these graduates do not remain in the United States, with about 80 percent of master’s graduates and 25 percent of PhD graduates leaving, often due to immigration policies that do not empower them to remain in U.S. territory. The rate of potential workers leaving the United States in the face of immigration roadblocks is particularly disheartening given shortages facing strategic sectors.
Semiconductors and AI: The semiconductor industry faces a significant workforce gap, with projections indicating that 67,000 new jobs by 2030 may remain unfilled unless the United States can retain more international talent, particularly in engineering and technical roles. Immigrants already make up a large portion of the semiconductor workforce, particularly in roles requiring advanced degrees, where foreign-born engineers are essential to meeting demand. Similarly, foreign-born individuals are pivotal in artificial intelligence, with immigrants founding or cofounding 65 percent of the leading AI companies in the United States and constituting 70 percent of full-time graduate students in AI-related fields. Between 2015 and 2018, companies with active AI programs hired more than 34,000 H-1B workers, paying them at comparable rates to domestic employees, suggesting that these nonimmigrant workers filled roles that domestic labor could not.
Food production: The need for an immigration pathway is perhaps most acute when it comes to food production. That is especially true in agriculture. From 2018 to 2020, 30 percent of crop farmworkers were born in the United States, 6 percent were immigrants with U.S. citizenship, 23 percent were authorized immigrants (mostly permanent residents or green card holders), and 41 percent lacked work authorization.
Mining: The U.S. mining industry has also been reliant on migrant workers, with around 13 percent of the sector’s workforce being foreign born. The United States faces a shortage of miners, with over half of the nation’s mining workforce, approximately 221,000 workers, expected to retire by 2029. The pool of candidates willing to take on these positions is shrinking. At the same time, demand for rare earth minerals essential for producing semiconductors and other consumer technologies is set to skyrocket.
Shipbuilding: Amid a booming economy and low unemployment, private shipyards across the country are grappling with an ongoing labor shortage. As a result, the delivery of warships to the Navy is, in some cases, years delayed. The Hampton Roads maritime industry is currently short 10,000 workers, with projections indicating a potential shortfall of 40,000 workers by 2030.
Existing U.S. Immigration Pathways
Past U.S. initiatives have aimed to leverage immigration to meet strategically significant labor shortages. The Bracero Program, which ran from 1942 to 1964, allowed over 4.5 million Mexican workers to temporarily work in the United States to address labor shortages during World War II, particularly in California and Texas. While it provided opportunities for migration and established lasting communities, the program was controversial due to exploitation, abuse, and its use of Braceros as strikebreakers.
Much more recently, the 2024 White House AI Memorandum included immigration considerations, stating that the National Security Advisor will convene relevant agencies within 90 days to prioritize and streamline administrative processing for visa applicants working with sensitive technologies, particularly in AI and emerging fields. That effort is meant to focus on ensuring adequate resources and refining criteria for secure advisory opinion requests to align with national security.
Efforts have so far been on a sector-by-sector basis and do not address the systematic nature of U.S. labor shortcomings. The immigration system currently offers some pathways for foreign individuals to come work in strategic sectors, but these do not cover the United States’ economic security labor needs comprehensively.
The EB-1 “priority workers” visa is part of that picture. “Priority workers” are highly skilled individuals eligible for the first preference category of U.S. employment-based green cards, which include workers of extraordinary ability, outstanding professors or researchers, and multinational executives or managers. This visa category simplifies the green card process by exempting employers from the lengthy and complex labor certification requirement typically required in other employment-based visa categories. It covers leaders in critical industries, such as highly distinguished professors or executives, but these kinds of positions include a minimal proportion of strategic sectors’ employment.
Likewise, the EB-2 visa only applies to a small segment of potential workers in strategic sectors. Under EB-2, an individual can qualify for a second preference employment-based visa if they hold an advanced degree or its equivalent or possess exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. The job they apply for must require an advanced degree, and they must meet any additional requirements specified in the labor certification, including demonstrating exceptional ability through expertise significantly above the ordinary in their field.
Nonimmigrant visa categories are also broadly insufficient. The closest fit is the H-1B category for “specialty occupations in fields requiring highly specialized knowledge.” As its name suggests, H-1B allows individuals to work temporarily in the United States in specialty occupations that require specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree. It is typically applied for by professionals and professors who do not intend to remain in the United States permanently. H-1B, therefore, also misses an important component of addressing labor shortages on a broad scale—the incentive of permanent relocation to the United States. That is also the trap of sector-specific temporary work visas, such as the H2-A category geared towards seasonal agriculture workers, which requires visa holders to come back to their countries of origin for three continuous months after only a three-to-ten month (occasionally extendable) work period.
While some positions within strategic sectors fit the visa requirements outlined in EB-1, EB-2, and H-1B—for instance, experienced researchers in biotechnology-related fields—many others do not. The United States does not only need highly experienced academics and executives. As previous Scholl Chair research demonstrates, the country is facing critical shortages in positions that do not require advanced degrees or late-career specialized experience. Early-career engineers, HVAC workers, and electricians are also critical to strategic sectors—supporting R&D efforts or building and maintaining operations facilities will require more immigration pathways that enable their entry as well.
Formulating a Strategic Sectors Visa
Instead of adopting the experience-based approach of other visa categories, a “strategic sectors” visa would prioritize workers who fall into specific fields. The experience-blind nature of the visa would enable the United States to fill several gaps in its current approach. The first one is the bridge between education and employment. A significant number of foreign students are unable to remain in the United States—often despite their wish to do so—and are required to move back to their country of origin to begin their careers. This system needlessly encourages brain drain; the United States misses out on foreign talent by restricting foreign students’ access to jobs.
In addition, early-to-mid-career professionals also have fewer opportunities than their more experienced counterparts. While experienced professionals are undeniably valuable, the United States’ aging labor force would benefit from expanding opportunities to younger workers.
A strategic sectors visa would ideally fall into the “immigrant” visa category to provide enough incentives for enough foreign workers to relocate to the United States long term—rather than setting them up to contribute to U.S. industry on a limited basis and return to their country of origin with additional know-how.
Source: https://www.csis.org/analysis/united-states-needs-strategic-sector-visa
