IDAHO — Advocates inside the Statehouse sharing findings of recent research related to the State's unauthorized workforce and contributions to the State's economy.
"I think one of the key takeaways of the study is that Idaho has a really stable unauthorized immigrant population and it's been roughly the same for almost twenty years," said Liz Bageant, the economist at the University of Idaho McClure Center.
A stable workforce filling a variety of jobs from agriculture and dairy, to construction and hospitality industries.
"And they're filling gaps in Idaho's labor supply that would be very difficult to fill without their work," said Bageant.
The Idaho Dairymen's Association, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, and the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry worked with the University of Idaho James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research to present the report. The groups analyzing existing data and research on unauthorized immigrants in Idaho.
Idaho Dairymen Association CEO, Rick Naerebout, says of those 35 thousand individuals, 86 percent, are employed. That's higher than the national average.
"So, it's 30,000 of them filling jobs in Idaho. If you remove those 30,000 workers from the state, the detrimental impacts would be tremendous," said Naerebout.
While it's up for discussion inside the Idaho Statehouse, advocates say it's an issue nationwide.
"We need the federal government to step up and take on their responsibility when it comes to boast securing the border, but also providing visa programs that match up to the work force needs within our country," said Naerebout.
