Immigrants Without College Degrees Face ‘Merit-Based’ System (1)

Close to a third of working-age people without a college degree are immigrants or the children of immigrants, raising questions about the ability of immigration to fill labor force gaps in an increasingly knowledge-based society.

First- and second-generation immigrants fare better if they have professional licenses and other non-degree credentials, but relatively few immigrants have those credentials, according to a new analysis by the Migration Policy Institute. Only 15 percent of first-generation immigrant adults and 22 percent of the adult children of immigrants reported having a professional or occupational license in 2017.

The findings about the immigrant population’s credentials appear ...