DATA & INFORMATION

Source: Statista, 2020

In the U.S., the Dept. of Ed. states undocumented students, including those eligible for DACA will not avail the emergency coronavirus stimulus funding amid campus closures caused by the pandemic. The CARES Act has provided a $12 billion boost in education funding, split between institutions and financial relief for students; yet is unclear who exactly is eligible and will impact hundreds of thousands undocumented-student learners. According to the New American Economy, a bipartisan research and advocacy organization, there’s more undocumented students enrolled at U.S. universities than previously thought.

In 2018, an estimated 454,000, of which 216,000 were DACA eligible, the majority coming to the U.S. as children/adolescents and attended primary/high school. Also, undocumented immigrants, including DACA recipients, have paid taxes, started businesses and worked in industries facing labor shortages while playing an important role in their communities. Undocumented students actively ready themselves to fill critical skills shortages and according to New American Economy, they include "healthcare, STEM fields, teaching, and business". The pandemic has shown this firsthand with undocumented immigrants filling important roles in healthcare, delivery services and agriculture among other industries. As the infographic shows, California is going to be the state where the most undocumented students are impacted. The report estimates that it has 92,000 while Texas and Florida are in second and third place with 66,000 and 42,000 respectively.

The year 2019 changed the face of migration on the U.S. Southwestern border to many immigrants try to cross it and a majority – almost 56 percent – arrived together with their families, fleeing violence in Central America. As a result of this vital change in who is seeking to immigrate to the United States, Non-Mexicans outnumbered Mexicans 4:1 at the Southern border in the FY 2019. These numbers are inferred from arrest records of CBP while the number of undocumented immigrants peaked in May 2019, when more than 132,000 people were apprehended. Though the figure diminished to about 33,500 in November 2019 (FY2020). Because many of the new arrivals are applying for asylum, the Trump administration renovated its application process, making many asylum seekers wait in camps on the Mexican side without much assistance.

These changes were implemented after another system overhaul – the separation of families in U.S. custody and the tendency to release fewer immigration detainees on bail – had caused chaotic scenes at detention centers and an international outcry. Historically, Mexicans made up the largest share of undocumented immigrants to the U.S. but have been more successful at finding work in Mexico, where the economy is improving and workers are more sought after as the country’s population ages. As more asylum seekers and less work migrants arrive, the U.S. has also slashed the number of refugees it accepts annually to the historic low of 18,000 for 2020.

Source: Statista, 2020

Source: Statista, 2020

The Trump administration is allegedly planning to raise the number of non-agricultural, seasonal workers allowed to enter the U.S. according to a Wall Street Journal media report out in late February. The move will likely please the business community, with many owners and managers struggling to find staff during tourism season or in seasonal industries like landscaping, forestry or fish processing. The plan reportedly involves raising the number of workers in the H2-B category by 45,000 to 111,000 in 2020, which would see the number approaching the absolute cap of 130,000 workers set by Congress. In 2019, the number of H2-B visas given out already rose to almost 100,000, up from around 70,000 in 2014.

Half of the new visas would be available immediately after the announcement, according to the Wall Street Journal. The rest would be available starting June 1, in line with the even split of H2-B visas between summer and winter work seasons. In the past, demand for visas was much higher than supply, with 100,000 applications received for summer season alone in 2019. As the WSJ pointed out, Trump resorts and golf clubs also relied on the program.

With Super Tuesday swiftly approaching, Pew Research released some new data about the immigrant electorate in the United States. The U.S. had approximately 12 million foreign-born eligible voters back in 2000 and that increased to 22 million by 2018. It is expected to grow even further this year, hitting 23.2 million. That's a 93 percent increase since the turn of the century. By the time Americans head to the polls in November, 9.8 percent of eligible voters will be foreign born, a record high. The U.S. born eligible voter population has also grown since 2000 but at a slower place, rising 18 percent from 181 million to 215 million by 2018. Two key developments are behind the trend. The nation's immigrant population has increased from 9.6 million (5 percent of the population) to 45 million (13.9 percent of the population) since the Immigration and Nationality Act became law in 1965.

The second is the rising share and number of immigrants becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. Some 7.2 million immigrants naturalized and became citizens between 2009 and 2019 alone. Today, people from Latin America (34 percent) and Asia (31 percent) make up the vast majority of immigrant eligible voters. Mexico comes first in terms of origin countries with 31 percent of the immigrant electorate or 3.5 million voters. The Philippines has the second highest absolute number with 1.4 million while India comes third with 1.4 million.

Source: Statista, 2020

Source: Statista, 2020

COVID-19

Food Delivery Still Struggles in Pandemic

While the use of food delivery services like Grubhub and DoorDash have seen record highs due to COVID-19 restrictions, most – if not all – food delivery services are still failing to turn a profit. According to data, food delivery services are sharing just 9 percent of the total off-premises restaurant sales in the U.S. for 2020 (Wall Street Journal, 2020). Similarly, for 2018 and 2019, where food delivery companies have struggled to increase margins. Sales for these companies are soaring, but new costs for safety equipment along with pressure to reduce commissions continues to offset any profits Uber, Grubhub or others can make off this unprecedented food delivery market. At the same time, restaurants are growing impatient at what they consider excessively high fees for delivery food, with more and more local businesses asking customers to order directly from them as opposed to going through delivery service apps. More people are opting for grocery delivery and pickup as opposed to food and restaurant delivery during COVID-19 lockdowns (Wall Street Journal, 2020). Ultimately, this incredible food delivery market surge has brought a swell of competition, and companies are spending record amounts of cash for advertising to stay relevant and in customers’ minds.