According to the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) conducted in 2018, over 19.8 million workers in the US are migrant workers. They are therefore a big contributor to the health, manufacturing, infrastructure, safety, food, service, and other needs of Americans.  

From the CMS report, 69% of these immigrant workers over age 16 work in essential infrastructure categories. This includes 74% of undocumented migrant worker group. Immigrants therefore make the largest composition of workers in essential categories compared to native US citizens.

Regardless of their immigration status, all migrant workers in the US have rights. However, because they are often not in a position to express grievances with their employers and these issues go undocumented, these people are exposed to more exploitation and abuse.

Some believe that a number of immigrant rights in Arkansas have not been protected by border patrol officers, labor contractors, and firms. These rights include best interest of the child, detention as a last resort, right to life, right to due process in immigration proceedings, right to seek asylum, non-refoulement, non-discrimination, respect for family life, and prohibition on torture together with inhumane treatment.

Some people believe that migrant workers have better chances of helping a business grow in productivity and performance. They contribute to a cultural diversity and complement knowledge and skills in a business. Some of the benefits US companies get for employing migrant workers include:

• Knowledge sharing: the diversity of knowledge brought by the cultural differences increase access to international knowledge and upskilling of co-workers.

• Cultural enrichment: migrant workers bring an advantage of diversity of cultural enrichment to the US with new ways of working and varied experiences.

• Filling the gaps in skills: as they bring new skills and talent, migrant workers support businesses by taking more work and fulfilling existing gaps in the job market.

The question for debate, should more be done to help protect the rights #immigrant workers in Arkansas?