Claudia Londo帽o recalls her first job in the United States in 2021. She was taught how to fold and manage a rack full of clothes. At that moment, memories of the years she spent earning her bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees flooded her mind. Still, there she was, working in a retail store.
Londo帽o is a 48-year-old Colombian who arrived in the U.S. in 2021, seeking better opportunities and a brighter future for her son. She has a bachelor鈥檚 in speech and language pathology and a master鈥檚 in marketing. In Colombia, she practiced speech and language pathology for five years and then spent ten years as a key account manager at Novartis, a pharmaceutical company.
鈥淚 knew it was going to be hard for me because of the language barrier,鈥� said Londo帽o. 鈥淏ut I felt that everything I studied and worked in Colombia wasn鈥檛 worth it here.鈥�
Many immigrants in the U.S. struggle with the same issue.
Londo帽o鈥檚 experience mirrors those of the first major wave of Cuban exiles to South Florida after 1959. Miami may be known as the melting pot for immigrants escaping tyranny and seeking freedom, but many of them are not able to work in their fields and often end up working in low-wage jobs to meet their expenses because it is too costly to validate their careers here.
鈥淢any of these pioneers left Cuba with nothing and had to begin anew,鈥欌�� documentary, Cuban Exiles in America. 鈥淪ugar mill owners became gas station attendants; professional women took jobs as maids.鈥�
According to a report from the , 鈥淚n 2022, 35 percent of all 40.8 million immigrant adults ages 25 and older had a bachelor鈥檚 degree or higher.鈥�
However, many work in low-skill jobs. There are several reasons, said Jeanne Batalova, a Migration Policy Institute senior analyst. She sorts them into two categories: individual situations, such as lack of English proficiency, legal status, the place where they obtained their degree, and Institutional barriers regarding licenses and regulations.
The institute calls this brain waste, Batalova said.
鈥淲hen the country of origin loses these skilled individuals is known as brain drain, but when a country receives immigrants and doesn鈥檛 use them to their maximum capacity, we refer to that as the country is wasting human capital.鈥�
Londo帽o鈥檚 limited English proficiency has been a barrier to pursuing her desired career in Miami. Despite taking English classes, she still has to work a full-time job to pay her bills, limiting her time for studying.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for me to practice my English because, outside the classroom, nobody speaks in English because we鈥檙e in Miami,鈥� says Londo帽o
One issue leads to another. For example, in order to validate her career in the United States, she has to learn English, but even after that, a few barriers stand in her way. Batalova said immigrants are disadvantaged when seeking jobs in their field because local employers prefer local education.
Even with experience, 鈥渨hat you did back in your home country is not worth it, especially when it鈥檚 related to the health sector,鈥� she said.
For Londo帽o to validate her career, she will first undergo a credential evaluation, which will cost between $100 and $500, depending on the type of documents required.
Then she will have to get a Florida speech pathology license. According to the , candidates must have a master鈥檚 degree or have completed the academic requirements of a doctoral program in speech-language pathology; on average, a master of science in Speech-Language Pathology costs around $48,345. Moreover, applicants need 300 supervised hours of experience, with at least 200 hours in speech-language pathology and nine months of professional employment experience.
Additionally, applicants must provide proof of passing an exam within the last three years. The required exam costs at least $280.
Londo帽o is not alone.
鈥淲e estimated that at least 2 million immigrants are unemployed or working in low-skilled jobs,鈥� said Batalova. 鈥淎n additional 2 million people who are college-educated are working in what we call middle-skill jobs that require some level of a college degree but not a university-level degree.鈥�
Alexis Santamaria, 47, was born in Miami but moved to Colombia with his parents when he was 8 and lived there until 2021. Even though he is a U.S. citizen, because he did all his higher education in Colombia, he has issues working in his field in Miami.
Santamaria is a medical toxicologist with a master鈥檚 in pharmaceutical marketing. He was very successful in Colombia, but since he landed, he has struggled.
鈥淚 have applied to 100 positions in the pharmaceutical industry, but they told me that I don鈥檛 have experience in the United States,鈥� said Santamaria. 鈥� It doesn鈥檛 matter if they are the same medications I was handling in Colombia; they don鈥檛 care about my experience.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of funny because they see me as a migrant in my own country,鈥� says Santamaria
He currently works as a telephone health insurance agent.
鈥淚n health care, engineering, and education sectors, employers are looking for qualified workers, and the two ships pass each other at night,鈥� said Batalova. 鈥漁ften employers require US experience, but to get US experience, someone has to hire them first.鈥�
There is a societal cost to the problem as well, Batalova said.
鈥淔ive years ago, underemployment of college-educated immigrants cost about $10 million in state and federal taxes; moreover, states with larger immigrant populations suffer this often.鈥�
The United States continues to receive immigrants between 2020 and 2022; 48% of new immigrants hold a bachelor鈥檚 degree or higher, and many of them continue facing the brain waste issue.
鈥淲hen you come to the US, you arrive full of dreams and goals to achieve. However, the reality is that you often end up working in a job outside your field,鈥� said Londo帽o.
The story was originally published by Caplin News, a publication of FIU's Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media, as part of an editorial content partnership with the 港澳天下彩newsroom.
