Immigrants Critical to Important Maryland Industries

As promised, we’re working our way through the Maryland Comptroller’s report on the reliance of our state’s economy on in-bound immigration. Today, we take a closer look at the work our immigrant neighbors do.

In Maryland, according to the Comptroller’s report, immigrants “make up over 50% of the workforce in several occupations including home health aides, taxi drivers, housekeepers, and carpenters.” Further “immigrants tend to be over-represented in high-risk and physically demanding fields in Maryland. For example, 12% of foreign-born Marylanders hold jobs in construction compared to just 5.8% of U.S.-born residents” (page 11).

In Maryland, more than half of the home health aides, taxi drivers, housekeepers, and carpenters are immigrants (page 11). These important jobs help to keep our vulnerable community members healthy, our spaces built and clean, and our mobility assured. Further, fully 23% of the registered nurses practicing in the state of Maryland are immigrants (page 11). With a significant federal government contracting presence in the state, Maryland is also home to significant science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) industries. In fact, almost a quarter of the STEM workforce in Maryland are immigrants (page 11).

Finally, that most Maryland of traditions, our beloved crabs, are heavily reliant on the work of seasonal immigrant workers, with most crab processors in Maryland reporting likely shut down without them (page 12).