Report: 36,000 Essential Health Care Workers In San Diego Are Immigrants

Speaker 1: 00:00 COVID-19 has hit San Diego's Latino and foreign born populations, especially hard. And even though we recognize our region has a distinct multicultural identity, there have been gaps in our understanding of just how much San Diego is shaped by its immigrant communities. A new report from UC San Diego feels in many of those gaps. Researchers found that almost 30% of the city's total population is foreign born and many foreign born workers are currently fighting on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Joining me is Tom Wong, professor of political science at UC San Diego and director of the international migration studies program. And professor Wong, welcome to the program. Thanks for having me. What more can you tell us about foreign born essential workers in San Diego, specifically those who are employed in the healthcare? Speaker 2: 00:55 Yeah, so we looked at the most recent American community surveys. So that's a census survey, micro data, and we were trying to better understand the foreign born population here in San Diego, a demographic trends, economic contributions, education. Uh, one of the things that really stuck out is that approximately one third of our essential health food production and agricultural workers are foreign born. So when we think about the COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it, then the foreign born population here in San Diego certainly are critical for the front lines. What we also found was that approximately two thirds of those foreign born essential food production and agricultural workers are non-citizens. And when it comes to essential health workers about one third are non-citizens. So when we think about the foreign born population, we generally dis-aggregate between those who are naturalized citizens, and those who are non-citizens within that non-citizen category. That includes people who are green card holders, but that also includes undocumented immigrants. And so from these data, we can see that, uh, San Diego's foreign born population across many immigration statuses are on the front lines, fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaker 1: 02:25 And how much of the economy would you say relies on foreign born workers, the economy of San Diego? Speaker 2: 02:31 So what we've found in the data are that approximately 213,000 foreign born workers add to the city's overall labor force. So among those foreign born workers, uh, 94% were employed at the time of the survey, uh, given the covered 19 pandemic and its effect on the economy. We fully suspect that the percentage employed has has, uh, as it has across the board, uh, for all Americans. But when we think about what the data show in terms of economic contributions, those 200,000 plus workers, they've added an estimated 2.6, $8 billion in federal taxes and almost $950 million in state and local taxes based on the pretax wages and salary income that they've earned. So it's clear in the data how important foreign born workers are to the economy in terms of their, uh, monetary contributions. But we also see in the data how the foreign born population more generally is adding to our sort of innovation economy and our 21st century workforce. Speaker 2: 03:51 So when we think about the foreign born population and the skills that they have, or are currently acquiring while in school, we can see in the micro data, not just whether or not one has a bachelor's degree or higher, but we can also see the degree field that a person has earned a degree in. And so among the foreign born population in San Diego who has a bachelor's degree or higher, the top five degree areas are engineering at the top, followed by business biology and life sciences. Next comes medical and health sciences, and then the social sciences. So when we think about the foreign born population and the current contribution to San Diego's economy, we can think about dollars and cents. But when we combine education, we can also think about how San Diego's foreign born population is making us that much more competitive, uh, by growing our 21st century workforce. Speaker 1: 04:56 So almost 30% of San Diego's population is foreign born. How does that compare to the nation as a whole? Speaker 2: 05:05 Yes. So California leads the way when it comes to immigration and immigrants in American society. So the foreign born population in the United States is just under 14%. And so with nearly 30% of San Diego's population being foreign born, we are over double the national average. When we think about where these immigrants are coming from, this is where the data become incredibly interesting. So when we think about the foreign born population in the city of San Diego, one might think our neighbors to the South Mexico is being a, uh, large sending country, which of course it is. But when we look at the data over the last five years, the most significant growth in our foreign born population, it's not coming from Latin America, but it's coming from Asia and more significantly from Africa and the middle East. And so what we also see in the data is that by 2030, the plurality of immigrants here in San Diego will be from Asia. And when we think about a neighborhoods like city Heights, when we think about, uh, alcohol and our resettled refugee community, we can also begin to imagine how the trend of more immigration from the continent of Africa and the middle East will further diversify the region as a whole, Speaker 1: 06:36 As the nation's reckoning over race and racism continues. How do you think this information can contribute to that larger conversation? Speaker 2: 06:46 I think we are at an inflection point when it comes to race and politics in American society. I think for many good reasons, the last, uh, several weeks have been focused on the experiences of black Americans in the United States. I think when we look at the data and see an increasing number of, uh, immigrants in San Diego, coming from the continent of Africa, we can begin to understand why some of the refugee resettlement organizations here in San Diego were such strong allies and, and, you know, working in partnership with the black lives movement. When we think about what the data show in the future, and not too much further into the future, but you know, a decade from now, we're also going to see that Asian immigration is going to be a much more significant, uh, chunk of overall immigration in the United States, but also, you know, more significantly here in San Diego, the increased racism that Asian Americans have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, I think is something to also keep an eye on to the extent that we have more Asian immigrants coming into the U S and a continued perhaps conflation of, uh, immigrants and, uh, foreignness with things like disease. Speaker 2: 08:16 Then what we can learn from the data is that the city of San Diego can be a leader. If we can manage our diversity in a way where we can grow from that diversity in a way where we can collectively think that diversity is a value added to not just the economy in terms of dollars and cents, but how people interact with each other and grow with each other. Then we can set a tone, not just for the rest of California, but for the rest of the country. Speaker 1: 08:51 Given us a lot to think about, I want to thank you. Professor Wong, a professor of political science at UC San Diego and director of the international migration studies program. Thank you very much for speaking with us. Speaker 3: 09:04 Thanks, Maureen.