HOUSTON, Texas -- More than 20% of college-educated immigrants in the U.S., or two million people, are either unemployed or underemployed, according to new research.

The Migration Policy Institute, which authored the study, said the disparity accounts for significant "brain waste," and huge losses in potential taxes for state and local governments. The Institute's new research shows many foreign-trained professionals end up driving a taxi or doing janitorial work to make ends meet.

Courtney Brown, vice president of impact and planning at Lumina Foundation, which supported the report, said failing to use those talents results in devastating costs to workers and the nation.

"We're hurting individuals, we're hurting generations of individuals, the states' economies and the U.S. economy, because we're leaving all this talent on a shelf," Brown asserted. "We are not valuing what they're bringing here."

Brown noted the health-care worker shortage during the pandemic as an example. As the crisis worsened, some states reduced licensing barriers to tap the skills of foreign-trained experts. She pointed out while the results were mixed, the efforts brought the issue to light.

Brown believes helping immigrants succeed is an urgent national priority. The U.S. faces an estimated shortfall of eight million workers between now and 2027, amid declining birth rates and an aging workforce. She sees immigrants as a primary source of future labor-force growth.

"Black immigrants, as well as Black native-borns, are more likely to be underemployed," Brown observed. "So, an immigrant perhaps from the U.K., or a white immigrant that's foreign-trained, is not as likely to be underemployed as a Black immigrant."

In addition to race and ethnicity, the study found English proficiency and legal status are strong predictors of brain waste. Brown emphasized lost wages from trained migrants are estimated at nearly $40 billion annually, and as a result, governments lose $10 billion a year in tax revenue. She hopes President Biden's immigration reform bill will prompt positive changes.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

People in northwest Washington are holding a vigil at Bellingham City Hall for an immigrant farmworker who died five years ago, and calling for a resource center to help other residents.

Honesto Silva Ibarra died in 2017 while working in triple-digit heat. A state investigation of Ibarra's death found the farm where he worked violated requirements for regular breaks.

Tara Villalba, a member of the Immigration Advisory Board, which is asking the city to fund an Immigrant Resource Center, lives in the community and said it is important to have a place where people can use their first language and also build up community in their new homes.

"Access to resources is so full of barriers, especially for new immigrants, when English is not your first language, when you don't know where you're going to need to go to get a driver's license, how are you going to register to vote," Villalba outlined. "People who have lived here a long time, that's knowledge they take for granted."

One in 10 residents of Whatcom County was born outside the U.S., or about 24,000 people, but only about half are naturalized citizens, according to the Immigrant Resource Center proposal to the City of Bellingham.

Lelo Juarez, a member of the Immigration Advisory Board and a farmworker, sees Ibarra as a victim of climate change, which disproportionately affects farm laborers who work outdoors. He believes a resource center could be a place where people come with concerns about their working conditions.

"If a company's not following the rules to keep our workers safe, they can come in and tell us, and we can go and see what we can do," Juarez explained. "We really need this."

On June 1, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries put temporary rules in place, providing increased protections for farmworkers when temperatures are at or above 89 degrees.

To support the campaign for a resource center, people in Whatcom County are folding 10,000 origami butterflies. The campaign is called "migration makes us stronger," and Villalba said butterflies signify migration is natural.

This weekend is also the 77th Hiroshima bombing anniversary. Villalba pointed out the idea to fold butterflies came from descendants of Japanese Americans interned during World War II, who, in recent years, have folded cranes for immigrant families separated and detained at the southern border.

"They said that as a Japanese American community, they cannot allow for this to happen again," Villalba recounted. "And I thought, as an immigrant, that was super powerful."

Stigma around mental health and a lack of resources available in Spanish means many individuals in North Carolina's Latino community are going without needed resources.

Camino Health Center wants to change the situation, and is launching an effort to spread the word about Spanish-speaking therapists and counselors available to residents in the Charlotte region.

Dr. Carolina Benitez, director of the Behavioral Health Clinic at Camino Health Center, said language is the number one barrier Latino residents face.

"I know that the number of therapists who can speak Spanish will are fully bilingual is small," Benitez observed. "That is actually a great need within this community and actually throughout the state."

Research shows although the nation's Hispanic population is increasing, the number of mental-health facilities offering treatment in Spanish declined by more than 17% between 2014 and 2019, across 44 states.

North Carolina has seen its Latino population soar over the past decade to more than one million, which includes individuals born in the U.S. and immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Benitez added financial and other obstacles often accompanying immigration to the U.S. can contribute to depression and anxiety in this population.

"Issues with documentation status will affect transportation needs (and) will also affect health access to health insurance, sustainable work," Benitez outlined.

She encouraged residents to seek help by contacting the center at 704-596-5606.

"We will be happy to connect them with a social navigator who can help them understand more about our services, understand more about the situation that they're in and the resources that are available to them," Benitez explained.

According to the Hispanic Research Center, more than one third of Latino families have experienced a mental-health disorder, including depression, anxiety, substance misuse or PTSD.

Support for the mental-health awareness campaign comes from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and the American Heart Association.

Florida farmworkers are getting some much-needed support thanks to a grant from the Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor Food Alliance (HEAL).

The grant of more than $4,000 is being used to distribute food, host vaccine clinics, and help families pay their bills.

Neza Xiuhtecutli, general coordinator and executive director of the Farmworkers Association of Florida, said many farmworker families were ineligible for federal assistance during the pandemic, so the need is great.

"We are helping them with direct assistance to help them pay for rent and some of their utilities," Xiuhtecutli outlined. "We are also helping with buying food and passing it among some of the neediest families."

The Farmworkers Association of Florida represents 10,000 members, and about 6,000 families have reached out to seek help. The Association's ongoing COVID-19 response also includes assistance filling out applications for SNAP, Medicaid and unemployment, distribution of personal protective equipment, and COVID-19 education.

Navina Khanna, executive director of the HEAL Food Alliance, said they are giving out $52,000 in rapid-response grants to food justice organizations targeting communities of color.

"We were seeing that to go through a whole funding process is often very, very cumbersome in terms of an application and reporting requirements and things like that," Khanna noted. "And that by creating a pool of funds and getting that out to our communities, our communities could do what they need to do."

The grants are designed to be flexible and can be used as needs arise. They have benefited eight grassroots, BIPOC-led organizations across the country.