Katie Ralston Howe, director of workforce development for the North Dakota Department of Commerce, delivers remarks Aug. 21, 2024, during a Global Talent Summit at the Heritage Center. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
BISMARCK (North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Office of Legal Immigration – which some lawmakers wanted to eliminate – seeks a name change to better reflect the agency’s work.
The new name would be Office of Global Talent as proposed in an amendment to the budget bill for the Department of Commerce. The legislation, Senate Bill 2018, passed the Senate last month and advances to the House.
The proposal comes after Rep. Nico Rios, R-Williston, sponsored House Bill 1493 to get rid of the office entirely. That bill failed in the House on Feb. 18 with a 67-22 vote.
Lawmakers created the Office of Legal Immigration in 2023 as part of a solution to address ongoing workforce shortages across the state.
Katie Ralston Howe, director of the workforce division of the Department of Commerce, said the name Office of Global Talent better reflects the mission, which is helping employers attract talent from outside of the United States. The office does not process visa applications or work with foreign workers directly.
“Language is important,” Ralston Howe said.
In the past 18 months, members of the office have been doing a lot of clarification on what the office doesn’t do because “legal immigration” is in the name. She added she understands the confusion because online searches for “immigration support” or “immigration help” list the Office of Legal Immigration as one of the top results.
During legislative discussion, Sen. Michael Dwyer, R-Bismarck, said Office of Global Talent is a better name.
“With the hot button issue that immigration is today, it just seems like a more appropriate term,” Dwyer said.
The office has recently hired a global talent coordinator who will begin work in the coming weeks, bringing the total number of employees to two with additional leadership support from the Department of Commerce, Ralston Howe said.
The office does not provide any immigration or customs enforcement, legal counseling for immigrants, or employer certification for potential visa applicants, which falls under the U.S. Department of Labor, Ralston Howe said in submitted testimony.
The office does connect employers to resources and education on how to tap into the international labor pool through different visa programs, but those employers must all demonstrate to the Labor Department that their open position could not be filled by a North Dakotan or other U.S.-based worker.
She said workforce initiatives at the Department of Commerce and other state agencies have a combined goal of increasing the state’s workforce by 2% of average total employment over the previous year, which is about 10,000 workers.
“When we look at the holistic effort across all agencies that are tied into North Dakota’s workforce system, that 2% increase is huge,” Ralston Howe said.
The office has assisted employers bringing 13 foreign workers and their families to the state since fall 2024, she said. At least four of those workers have moved to the Harvey area and are working in the health care and accounting fields with their children becoming new Harvey Hornets.
“They are filling critical needs that not only would be critical in a community like Harvey, but all across the state,” she said.
However, Ralston Howe said the numbers of workers moving to the state might not be the best measure for the office because it works with employers seeking those foreign workers, not the employees themselves. She added more than 200 employers and community organizations have reached out to the office for assistance since the office was established in 2023.
Rios, the lawmaker who proposed eliminating the office, is not convinced the office is necessary.
Rios told lawmakers during a hearing in February that he wanted more of the state’s tax dollars to focus on recruiting American workers from across the country. He also suggested the state’s Find The Good Life campaign, another program designed to recruit workers to North Dakota, could be used as a vehicle to target migrant communities.
Rep. Karen Grindberg, R-Fargo, a member of the House Industry, Business and Labor Committee that heard the bill, said the committee recommended a “do not pass” on the bill.
“This committee felt that eliminating this office is detrimental to one of the biggest challenges facing our state, that being the workforce shortage,” Grindberg said during debate on the House floor. “This office is a critical component of providing a comprehensive workforce solution.”
The House overwhelmingly defeated the bill. In the coming weeks, House lawmakers will take up the Department of Commerce budget bill, including the office’s name change.
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