From cheese factory to CTO, Wisconsin's Immigrants are major muscle behind the state's economy
By Heather Skyler
In business Magazine

The green card has an almost mythical status in America, and the fact that a green card is now actually pink has not diminished our understanding that the cardholder has immigrant status.  But just as the color of the card has changed, so too have implications for the cardholder as the U.S. reevaluates its standards, expectations and services with regard to its growing immigrant population.
Though Wisconsin boasts immigrants from many different countries, the majority have travelled here from Mexico, reminds Victor Arellano, immigration attorney for Lawton & Cates. As did he.

Arellano came to Wisconsin from Leon, Mexico as a foreign exchange
student in the 1970s. He’s well known in town for bringing winning jury verdicts or settlements to high profile cases involving such issues as wrongful termination,
sexual harassment, personal injury and civil rights claims for blue collar, migrant and professional workers. Though Arellano already has lived up to his nickname of "the Storm," he prefers to be remembered as "the Advocate."
"Why would you trade beautiful Cancun for freezing Wisconsin?" Arellano queried. "It’s an economic question. The Mexican government has done nothing to eliminate corruption and it’s human nature to look for better places. Wisconsin has been friendly to foreign workers. The business community understands the need for these workers and appreciates this group."

According to the attorneys we talked to, immigrants (legal or otherwise) fuel Wisconsin’s food industry and factories. While media coverage often focuses on area immigrants as  low-wage workers who fill jobs that Americans supposedly don’t want, that narrow view ignores an equally vital and growing group of immigrants: foreign-born workers with science and technology expertise.

Many of Wisconsin’s upper echelon jobs, particularly those in the burgeoning technology and biotechnology fields, are staffed with foreign-born workers, primarily from India, China, and even Ireland (whose own tech economy is flourishing).
With Wisconsin’s high tech profile on the rise, these foreign workers are becoming essential to filling specialized, niche positions and energizing Dane County’s "knowledge economy."
What local companies are in need of these increasingly necessary knowledge workers, and what are the hurdles faced by employers who want to hire them?

Published: September 2006

Copyright 2006 In Business magazine