US govt policy mismatches economic reality: report

NEW YORK -- Even as businesses across the United States are complaining about their inability to find enough workers, the federal government is struggling to stem the relentless flow of migrants at the southern border trying to find work in the nation, according to a recent CNN report.

"No one suggests the answer to worker shortages is to open the border, but it remains a paradox that the nation is straining to keep out migrants looking to work even as employers say the shortage of workers is preventing them from filling millions of jobs," said the report.

That worker shortfall has also emerged as a key factor driving persistent inflation and higher interest rates, the report said.

"There's a mismatch between government policy and the economic reality on the ground," David Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, was quoted as saying.

"We have a policy designed to keep people out and meanwhile we have a crisis in the labor markets where we have nearly 10 million open jobs and have for two years now," he said.

That mismatch points toward a common response that may help alleviate both dilemmas: widening the pathways for legal immigration. Admitting more immigrants, many experts believe, is the most feasible way to expand America's stagnating labor force after years of historically slow growth in the nation's working-age population, it said.

"Creating more opportunities for legal entry into the U.S. -- while maintaining strong penalties for illegal entry -- may be the best long-term lever to reduce pressure on the border by encouraging more migrants to pursue legal means of entering the country and seeking work," it added.