There are plenty of people from generationally-marginalized families and communities who would love to be hired for positions where they'd be well-compensated while developing valuable skillsets. They're fine with the work being difficult or non-"sit-on-your-ass" oriented. But when People of Influence jump to the solution of, "Import skilled workers that will not only compete for these jobs we need filled, but likely shut out existing residents who've never had access to the requisite training or networks, forever," it speaks to how well PoI truly intend to take care of, say, PoC. If you sense that your abilities won't be appreciated in the future, why spend the time and energy developing them?

At the end of the day, we pursue economic affluence for the promise of social stability it's supposed to bring. Selling out existing Americans, rather than investing in them, in order to save money and hit the ground running short-term, is likely a long-term demographic nightmare. I say this as a progressive, not because I'm anti-immigration, but because the solution suggested seems less about keeping the country open and more about maintaining the wealth of a few at the expense of their marginalized neighbors across the train tracks.

Remember how the auto industry brought a bunch of Japanese trainers over years ago and then threw their recommendations for developing the local workforce in the trash? Let's do the right thing this time.