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July 16, 2025 24 mins

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Workforce shortages have reached epidemic levels across America. In this riveting conversation with Javier Palomarez, CEO of the United States Hispanic Business Council (USHBC), we dive deep into the alarming reality facing American businesses: agriculture short 350,000 workers, construction missing half a million, and technology facing a deficit of one million workers by year's end. These aren't just statistics—they represent a genuine crisis that's forcing farmers to destroy millions of tons of unharvested crops and businesses to operate at reduced capacity.

What makes this discussion truly special is Javier's remarkable personal journey from migrant farm worker to national business leader. His unique perspective bridges the immigrant experience with deep business acumen, informing his bold proposal: the Temporary Residence for Undocumented Migrant Professionals (TRUMP) visa. This innovative approach targets five critical sectors while being entirely self-funded through recipient taxes. Unlike traditional immigration proposals, it offers no pathway to citizenship, government benefits, or voting rights—it's strictly focused on economic contribution while maintaining national security priorities.

The conversation moves beyond partisan divides to focus on practical solutions that serve America's economic interests. Palomarez offers invaluable advice to entrepreneurs navigating these challenging times: stay the course, understand your sustainable value, and most importantly, invest in your people. He emphasizes that cross-sector collaboration between business and government is essential for implementing effective workforce strategies that balance security concerns with economic necessities. Whether you're a business owner struggling to find workers, a policy maker seeking solutions, or someone interested in America's economic future, this conversation provides fresh insight into one of our most pressing national challenges.

What do you think about the TRUMP visa proposal? Share your thoughts and join the conversation about America's workforce future!

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to IdeaGen TV .
I am ecstatic to have my friendJavier Palomares with me today.
Javier, welcome, good to behere.
George, thanks for having me.
The US Hispanic BusinessCouncil leading the way.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thank you Thanks.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
You know, it's an incredible time, javier, and
you've talked a lot.
You've talked so much aboutworkforce shortages, and not
just in a specific sector, butacross the sectors.
You've talked about healthcare,agriculture, construction, tech
.
From your perspective, leadingthe USHBC, what are some of the

(00:36):
most urgent gaps that businessesare facing today and how are
they?

Speaker 2 (00:44):
adapting.
Yeah, it's a great question,george, and again thanks for
having me.
You know, at the United StatesHispanic Business Council we
represent some four and a halfmillion Hispanic owned firms in
this country that collectivelycontribute over $850 billion to
the American economy.
As you know, and we'vediscussed many times, george,

(01:11):
and it's become very clear to us, you know, we are first and
foremost an American association.
We're not a civil rightsorganization.
We're about business and theeconomic and commercial
interests of our nation.
So in that context, we work withsmall businesses all over this
country and large, and we havebecome acutely aware of the
workforce shortage that existsin this nation and it's

(01:32):
perilously high.
You look at certain sectors,you know.
Agriculture is short some350,000 workers.
In the construction sector,we're short about a half a
million workers.
In the tech sector in itsbroader context, by the end of

(01:52):
this year we will be short by amillion workers.
So this is reaching an epidemiclevel.
And we're hearing from ourbusiness owners.
According to our own pollingsystem, as well as other
information, we've gathered that70 percent of business owners
are telling us that they cannotget to full employment and be

(02:15):
100 percent productive simplybecause they can't get their
hands on a willing and educatedand ready workforce.
So it's really becoming a bigissue for the American economy.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, it is a big issue, as you've described it,
and it's startling to hear thedetails as you describe them,
and we'll talk about thatfurther a little bit later in
the interview.
But I'd like for our globalaudience, the millions of people
that are watching this summit,to learn a little bit more about
you, javier Palomares, becauseyou have this, like so many

(02:50):
American journeys and stories,an incredible journey from
migrant farm worker to nationalbusiness leader.
What a powerful story, javier.
How has that shaped yourunderstanding of what the
American workforce really needstoday?

Speaker 2 (03:13):
You know I don't often talk about my background
not publicly anyway but you andI have started a friendship and
we've shared our own kind ofjourney, if you will shared, you
know, our own kind of journey,if you will.
And yeah, you know, I startedout in a home where, you know,
we were raised by my mother.
My father left when I was veryyoung, when I was six years old

(03:36):
and I was the youngest of 10kids and, yes, we were migrant
farm workers.
So we did whatever it took to,you know, to pay the bills and
stay alive.
And, despite the hardship, thereality of it is that it taught
me many lessons about work andwork ethic and discipline and
what it takes to make it in acountry like America, that I was

(04:04):
fortunate enough to be born inthis country, because in this
country, anything is possible,even when you come from a
background like mine.
And I'd like to say that youknow there's nothing unique
about me.
As you well know, I don't have apropensity for numbers, I'm not
a brilliant anything, but Ilearned to work hard.
And also, you know, there aremillions of us out there of my

(04:28):
vintage, particularly in theHispanic community, that have
had to struggle to get where weare, but it informs the way we
look at life.
It informs the way we look ateverything, including work.
Learned is that if you can findan environment and you can find

(04:48):
an ecosystem that encouragesworkers that want to contribute
because they want their familiesto do better, then magic can
happen.
And if you look at the historyof immigrants in this country,
corporations like Bank ofAmerica, at&t, ebay, google, a
little company we may have heardof called Tesla, verizon, and

(05:12):
the list goes on they were allstarted in America and they were
all started by immigrants.
So the immigrant story, notunlike your family or mine, is
alive and well in America.
We need now a refreshed system,a fresh perspective on
immigrants and how to put themto work for the benefit of the

(05:33):
American economy and theAmerican people.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
How powerful is that, and you know so.
How can, then private sectorleaders play a more proactive
role, javier, in shaping whatyou term to be sustainable
workforce strategies right,especially in industries that
you hear a lot about today, likemanufacturing and healthcare?
You know it is really critical.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
I think that business leaders really fight the urge
to politicize this issue.
Listen, this is not a Hispanicissue, it's not a Republican
issue, it's not a Democraticissue.
It's an American challenge andwe need, particularly business
leaders to coalesce, to begin totalk to each other across

(06:19):
sectors, across industries, andwork together to create an
environment and a system and anetwork that will encourage the
development of people, whetherimmigrant or not, whether native
, born or not, to ensure that weare looking out for the future
of the American economy andtherefore the American people,

(06:41):
and I'm talking 5, 10, 15, 20years out.
If we begin to talk about thisnow and develop the ecosystem
and the apparatus to manage thatneed and the flow, then magic
can happen.
But this cannot become orcontinue to be something that

(07:01):
gets politicized.
It needs to become a businessissue, it needs to become an
American challenge where we allcoalesce, we all work together
for the betterment of theAmerican economy.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
It's so well said, and so entrepreneurs.
So what advice, javier?
Because you see it day to dayin your work and everything that
you do, and you have thecritical experience to provide
this type of advice, what advicewould you give to young
entrepreneurs and or businessleaders from underserved

(07:34):
communities?

Speaker 2 (07:35):
You know, I think that the main thing I would say
to an entrepreneur is reallystick with it.
These are difficult times.
Our company I'm sorry ourcountry is in transit, if you
will.
We're at a pivotal point in thehistory of this nation and what
we do today is going to impactand inform what happens in the

(07:58):
next 10, 15 years.
We are making the decisionsthat will influence and run the
lives of our children and, Idare say, maybe our
grandchildren.
So, as an entrepreneur, you know, I think, that the main
challenge that you have is howdo you keep the lights on, how
do you keep the enterprisegrowing, how do you keep your

(08:19):
company moving forward?
And the best advice I can giveis one stay the course to
understand where you representvalue in the ecosystem and
ensure that that value issustainable over time.
And three, it's really allabout your people.
Any business, regardless ofsize, will tell you, and any

(08:41):
smart business owner will tellyou, that you know their number
one asset is not technology,it's not their financial
strength.
At the end of the day, it'stheir people.
And so invest in your people.
Ensure that you've got theright people, you've got them
incented to continue to grow theenterprise.
That's kind of in my mind, thenutshell, the thumbnail sketch I

(09:02):
would give a young entrepreneur.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
What incredible advice, you know advice I think
we all wish we had when we wereearlier in our careers, and so I
could have avoided a lot ofbumps and bruises.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Right, right.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
That's.
That's.
That's exactly right.
You've recently been well.
First of all, you wrote anopinion piece.
You've been on TV, newsmax andother channels highlighting a
solution because again, youbring that critical perspective
and expertise and vantage point,representing so many businesses

(09:38):
across the country.
So you come up with this newexample of a visa as a bold,
business minded solution toaddress the labor shortages and
the crisis they're in.
What inspired this idea and whydo you think it resonates

(09:58):
across both business and policyaudiences?

Speaker 2 (10:03):
You know, I think to a large extent, what inspired it
.
We just touched on ourupbringing and kind of you know
my background.
A lot of it is really centeredaround this notion that in life
you can't control what happensto you, but you can control what

(10:23):
you do about it, and so I'vealways looked at the world and
my work from that perspective.
And when it comes to this issueof immigration reform and
immigration in general, you know, I can choose to stay on the
sidelines and whine and complain, like everybody else.
I can choose to politicize itand kick the proverbial can down

(10:44):
the road, as so manyadministrations have done, or I
can choose to do something aboutit and say listen, this may not
be the panacea that everybodyexpects, but it's a starting
point.
It's trying to move the ballforward, and so, in that context
, my team and I and I have thebest team in the world, the
brilliant young people that workwith me, many of them, you know

(11:05):
we sat around the table andsaid, listen, if it was ours to
do so, we cobbled together whatwere pieces of existing
immigration legislation and cameup with the Temporary Residence
for Undocumented MigrantProfessionals TRUMP

(11:25):
Coincidentally it spells Trump.
The Trump visa is unique in thatit really is built around the
need that exists right now inagriculture, construction,
manufacturing, hospitality andtechnology in a broader context,
because we know that we arecritically in need of people to

(11:49):
run those industries.
If you look, george, atagriculture, 83% of the labor in
the agricultural sector is ofimmigrant background.
At the same time, in 2023,which are the latest numbers I
have in 2023, according to theTexas International Produce

(12:09):
Association, our nation and ourfarmers had to destroy 10
million tons, not 10 millionpounds, 10 million tons of corns
and grains and produce thatwent unharvested simply because
they didn't have the manpower toharvest those crops.
If you look at those tworealities, then you're honor

(12:32):
bound to do something about it,particularly if you're a small
business association.
And that was the genesis behindus, kind of getting around the
table and looking at this thingand saying, listen, it needs to
be focused on these five sectorsthat we know have the need.
It also needs to pay for itself.
So the Trump visa is created sothat any recipient of a Trump

(12:55):
visa has to pay between 10 to20% in taxes.
Therefore, the system, thenetwork and the implementation
gets paid by the taxes thatthese people are paying to be a
recipient of the visa.
It brings them out of theshadows.
It gets them to paying taxes,so the American taxpayer isn't

(13:17):
burdened with this new system.
And there's three things that Ithink I need to point out that
the Trump visa does not do.
One, it does not guaranteecitizenship, nor is it a pathway
to citizenship.
Two, it does not guarantee anygovernment benefits or no
welfare of any kind.
And three, it doesn't affordyou any voting rights.
This visa is createdspecifically for people who are

(13:39):
here to work, who are here tocontribute and want to earn
their way into the Americandream.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
Incredible.
And so you emphasize that thisproposal is not amnesty, but
rather a contribution-basedprogram.
So how do you balance the needfor the workforce stability with
the national security andimmigration enforcement?

Speaker 2 (14:02):
Great, great, great question, and you know we
struggled with this, becauseparamount to all of this is the
rapid, immediate identificationand deportation of known
criminals, people that we knoware here to do us harm, and so
we absolutely support the Trumpadministration's efforts on that

(14:24):
front.
We should not stop that effort.
We should, in fact, step on theaccelerator and get that done
post haste.
At the same time, though, thebalance that needs to exist
between the needs we have incritical industries like the
ones we've mentioned, and so itreally is a balancing act
between how do we ensure that,from an economic standpoint,

(14:47):
we're taken care of?
But, first and foremost, thesafety and security of the
American people has to be thedriving force here, and the idea
would be that, if you are aTrump recipient, you will have
to illustrate, by carrying yourvisa with you, that you are here
, that you are employed.
The employer would have toimmediately identify you as

(15:12):
being fired or leaving thecompany, so that if someone
finds you somewhere else withyour Trump visa and we check the
database and it turns out thatyour employer let you go last
month, then you're out of here,and so it's temporary, and only
and only if that personcontinues to be employed.
If they change jobs, the newemployer needs to pick up the

(15:35):
identification, let the systemknow employee XYZ left this
company.
They now work for me.
I now have them and they areopen to being audited anytime by
any federal agent that comes inand says I want to see your
Trump visa recipients and I wantto take role.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
Make sure everybody's here, trump visa recipients,
and I want to take role, makesure everybody's here.
So your piece on TV and yourarticle cites striking data on
labor shortages and, in additionto that, economic risk.
Why do you believe, javier,that this crisis hasn't gained
more mainstream traction, andwhat role can business leaders

(16:15):
play in shifting thatconversation?

Speaker 2 (16:18):
You know, I think the reality of it is.
You know, no matter whatadministration is in the White
House, whether it's a Republicanor Democratic administration,
whether it's President Trump ora predecessor, the
responsibility, to a very largeextent, lies with the business

(16:39):
community.
We're the ones with the needand we're the ones who are
responsible for looking out forthe the the needs of the
American economy and ourindustries and our companies,
and so there's a lot that needsto be done from the business
side of this equation.
We need to own this and we needto step up and offer ourselves

(17:00):
to the administration and to beable to help and say listen, we
know there's an issue here, anddigging a hole or sticking our
head in the sand and allowingthe political diatribe and the

(17:22):
verbal confetti that's comingout of both parties about this
issue is not going to solve itfor us.
It's also not going to be asituation where there's going to
be a huge, comprehensive fix.
It's simply too complicated anissue.
We're too large a nation, so weneed to take it one bite at a
time, and that's why the Trumpvisa focuses on those five

(17:43):
industries, so that you can testthe concept and get better at
it.
But it's a way to get somethinggoing, something implemented,
so that, as we're talking aboutmass deportations, and the
American economy, particularlythese five industries, are
yelling because they don't havethe resources for what we know
is going to be an economy thatneeds even more workers.

(18:05):
It's kind of getting ahead ofthat thing and taking some
accountability, but from thebusiness perspective, it's us
saying to ourselves we have aresponsibility here and we need
to approach the administration,we need to be as collaborative
as we can, put politics asideand find solutions for the
American economy and theAmerican people.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
So you framed the visa as pro-business, pro-worker
, pro-american, and so how do wekeep solutions like this above
the political fray?
In other words, how do you,george, I can tell you that from
our association's perspective.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
All we can do is offer ourselves up, offer
solutions, offer and volunteerto be part of the solution and
help inform the strategy for howwe move our economy and our
nation forward.
I don't know, in the environmentthat we live in today, how to
stop the politicizing ofeverything.

(19:17):
At the end of the day, you know, my personal ideology is that.
You know, I don't think thatbecause somebody has a different
political opinion or politicalideology that's different from
mine, I don't believe they'reany less American than we are.
So I think, as business owners,we need to start with that
mutual respect and understandthat people come at life from

(19:39):
their own perspective.
There's gonna be differentideologies, but the more
differences that you have at thetable, the more diversity of
thought that you have around thetable, the better, I think,
strategy you'll come up with,because you'll get all of these
different viewpoints.
But there has to be a placewhere we can respectfully

(20:00):
dialogue, respectfully evendisagree, but all with an aim to
move forward.
But again, I come back to thisnotion that the American
business community has a role toplay.
We need to coalesce, we need totake ownership of this and
start working with theadministration to try to find
solutions.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
And so if this proposal were implemented as you
envision it, what kind ofimpact could we expect in the
first year, and how might thatthen evolve over time?

Speaker 2 (20:32):
I mean, think about it Right now.
You know we talked about theshortage in healthcare.
You know, if you are anindustry that is struggling to
find the nurses that arenecessary, imagine the impact if
all of a sudden, there's aninflux of nurses that are
trained and are willing and areidentifiable and that are

(20:55):
contributing and paying theirway through the taxes in the
immediate fresh of breath air,the immediate relief that would
be felt in the medical system inthis country year will be short
by a million workers.
You can't hardly compete withthe likes of china if you don't

(21:17):
have the resources, ie thepersonnel, to compete, and so
the first thing you need is tohave a ready, trained and
willing workforce so that youcan compete on a global basis
and continue to be, you know,the leader in technology and
innovation.
We can hardly do that, orcontinue to be, you know, the
leader in technology andinnovation.
We can hardly do that orcontinue to do that if we don't

(21:39):
have the people working in thetechnology sector.
I mean, the solutions are thereand I think the effects and the
results will be almost immediate.
Imagine if you did have all ofthe people that you need in the
agricultural sector and those 10million tons of produce didn't

(22:01):
get wasted every year.
Imagine what we could do forthe homeless and those that are
hungry in our own country, nevermind how we could help other
countries.
The solutions are there.
We just need to start puttingthe dots together and be
courageous enough to get pastthe politics and get on with the
business of getting it fixed.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, and you know what, what?
What you're talking about, asyou've said so many times,
javier is common sense.
Yeah exactly You're coming upwith a common sense solution as
as developed by you, helping tosee and work with and impact
business small businessparticularly every single day,
and so that's why you've come upwith a potential solution and

(22:43):
you want to be a partner, and sothat leads me to cross-sector.
You talked about all thesesectors and I believe that's the
whole basis of IdeaGen iscross-sector collaboration.
That's the whole basis ofIdeaGen is cross-sector
collaboration.
What partnerships, specificallyor coalitions would be needed
across government, business,community organizations to bring
about this type of solution andhelp it come to life?

Speaker 2 (23:06):
You know, I'm not sure that that exists now, but I
do believe that there should be.
You know, one of the things Ihave to say about the Trump
administration agree or not,they're doing things differently
.
They're throwing the rule, therule book, out the window and
figuring it out for themselvesand trying new things, and in

(23:28):
business, oftentimes, that'swhat it takes to succeed.
Some ideas succeed, some don't,but in the absence of trying,
in the absence of thatexperimentation, then you're
hardly going to find a betterway.
And so I think we all need tokind of look at it and and
figure out how can we create apartnership between, you know,

(23:52):
the public sector and theprivate sector, with business
having a critical role,particularly people in those
sectors that we talked aboutmanufacturing, agriculture,
construction, hospitality andtech at the table to inform the
strategy for how we move forward.
And out of that, I think, willcome the coalitions, the
networks, the apparatus, if youwill, to get this thing done.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
Javier Palomares, ceo United States Hispanic Business
Council.
Changing the world, leading theway.
Ideagen is all about leadershipand, my friend, you are a
leader.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
Thanks for what you're doing.
Appreciate it, George.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
Thank you Thanks for having me.
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