Close Menu

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Appeals court says DOJ cannot represent Trump in appeal of E. Jean Carroll case

    June 19, 2025

    Trump faces mounting pressure at home and abroad as he weighs options on Iran

    June 19, 2025

    Insights from FutureMed X Summit, ET HealthWorld

    June 19, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Demos
    • Buy Now
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    14 Trends14 Trends
    Demo
    • Home
    • Features
      • View All On Demos
    • Buy Now
    14 Trends14 Trends
    Home » ICE raids and their uncertainty scare off workers and baffle businesses
    Hot News

    ICE raids and their uncertainty scare off workers and baffle businesses

    adminBy adminJune 19, 2025No Comments6 Mins Read0 Views
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Telegram Tumblr Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email


    WASHINGTON — Farmers, cattle ranchers and hotel and restaurant managers breathed a sigh of relief last week when President Donald Trump ordered a pause to immigration raids that were disrupting those industries and scaring foreign-born workers off the job.

    “There was finally a sense of calm,’’ said Rebecca Shi, CEO of the American Business Immigration Coalition.

    That respite didn’t last long.

    On Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin declared, “There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine (immigration enforcement) efforts. Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability.’’

    The flipflop baffled businesses trying to figure out the government’s actual policy, and Shi says now “there’s fear and worry once more.”

    “That’s not a way to run business when your employees are at this level of stress and trauma,” she said.

    Trump campaigned on a promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the United States illegally — an issue that has long fired up his GOP base. The crackdown intensified a few weeks ago when Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, gave the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement a quota of 3,000 arrests a day, up from 650 a day in the first five months of Trump’s second term.

    Suddenly, ICE seemed to be everywhere. “We saw ICE agents on farms, pointing assault rifles at cows, and removing half the workforce,’’ said Shi, whose coalition represents 1,700 employers and supports increased legal immigration.

    One ICE raid left a New Mexico dairy with just 20 workers, down from 55. “You can’t turn off cows,’’ said Beverly Idsinga, the executive director of the Dairy Producers of New Mexico. “They need to be milked twice a day, fed twice a day.’’

    Claudio Gonzalez, a chef at Izakaya Gazen in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district, said many of his Hispanic workers — whether they’re in the country legally or not — have been calling out of work recently due to fears that they will be targeted by ICE. His restaurant is a few blocks away from a collection of federal buildings, including an ICE detention center.

    “They sometimes are too scared to work their shift,” Gonzalez said. “They kind of feel like it’s based on skin color.”

    In some places, the problem isn’t ICE but rumors of ICE. At cherry-harvesting time in Washington state, many foreign-born workers are staying away from the orchards after hearing reports of impending immigration raids. One operation that usually employs 150 pickers is down to 20. Never mind that there hasn’t actually been any sign of ICE in the orchards.

    “We’ve not heard of any real raids,’’ said Jon Folden, orchard manager for the farm cooperative Blue Bird in Washington’s Wenatchee River Valley. “We’ve heard a lot of rumors.’’

    Jennie Murray, CEO of the advocacy group National Immigration Forum, said some immigrant parents worry that their workplaces will be raided and they’ll be hauled off by ICE while their kids are in school. They ask themselves, she said: “Do I show up and then my second-grader gets off the school bus and doesn’t have a parent to raise them? Maybe I shouldn’t show up for work.’’

    The horror stories were conveyed to Trump, members of his administration and lawmakers in Congress by business advocacy and immigration reform groups like Shi’s coalition. Last Thursday, the president posted on his Truth Social platform that “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.”

    It was another case of Trump’s political agenda slamming smack into economic reality. With U.S. unemployment low at 4.2%, many businesses are desperate for workers, and immigration provides them.

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, foreign-born workers made up less than 19% of employed workers in the United States in 2023. But they accounted for nearly 24% of jobs preparing and serving food and 38% of jobs in farming, fishing and forestry.

    “It really is clear to me that the people pushing for these raids that target farms and feed yards and dairies have no idea how farms operate,” Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, said Tuesday during a virtual press conference.

    Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, estimated in January that undocumented workers account for 13% of U.S. farm jobs and 7% of jobs in hospitality businesses such as hotels, restaurants and bars.

    The Pew Research Center found last year that 75% of U.S. registered voters — including 59% of Trump supporters — agreed that undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs that American citizens don’t want. And an influx of immigrants in 2022 and 2023 allowed the United States to overcome an outbreak of inflation without tipping into recession.

    In the past, economists estimated that America’s employers could add no more than 100,000 jobs a month without overheating the economy and igniting inflation. But economists Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson of the Brookings Institution calculated that because of the immigrant arrivals, monthly job growth could reach 160,000 to 200,000 without exerting upward pressure on prices.

    Now Trump’s deportation plans — and the uncertainty around them — are weighing on businesses and the economy.

    “The reality is, a significant portion of our industry relies on immigrant labor — skilled, hardworking people who’ve been part of our workforce for years. When there are sudden crackdowns or raids, it slows timelines, drives up costs, and makes it harder to plan ahead,” says Patrick Murphy, chief investment officer at the Florida building firm Coastal Construction and a former Democratic member of Congress. “ We’re not sure from one month to the next what the rules are going to be or how they’ll be enforced. That uncertainty makes it really hard to operate a forward-looking business.”

    Adds Douglas Holtz Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office and now president of the conservative American Action Forum think tank: “ICE had detained people who are here lawfully and so now lawful immigrants are afraid to go to work … All of this goes against other economic objectives the administration might have. The immigration policy and the economic policy are not lining up at all.’’

    ____

    AP Staff Writers Jaime Ding in Los Angeles; Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas; Lisa Mascaro and Chris Megerian in Washington; Mae Anderson and Matt Sedensky in New York, and Associated Press/Report for America journalist Jack Brook in New Orleans contributed to this report.



    Source link

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    admin
    • Website

    Related Posts

    Toy company challenges Trump’s tariffs before the Supreme Court in long shot bid for quick decision

    June 19, 2025

    Trump remakes the White House with new flagpoles

    June 19, 2025

    Families of trans kids worry about what’s next after Supreme Court rules on gender-affirming care

    June 19, 2025

    Trump’s latest judicial pick is someone that Joe Biden almost nominated

    June 19, 2025

    In Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, Democrats reprise a 2018 roadmap for opposing Trump 2.0

    June 19, 2025

    Trump administration demands action from 36 countries to avoid travel ban

    June 19, 2025
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Demo
    Top Posts

    ChatGPT’s viral Studio Ghibli-style images highlight AI copyright concerns

    March 28, 20254 Views

    Best Cyber Forensics Software in 2025: Top Tools for Windows Forensics and Beyond

    February 28, 20253 Views

    An ex-politician faces at least 20 years in prison in killing of Las Vegas reporter

    October 16, 20243 Views

    Laws, norms, and ethics for AI in health

    May 1, 20252 Views
    Don't Miss

    Appeals court says DOJ cannot represent Trump in appeal of E. Jean Carroll case

    June 19, 2025

    American taxpayers will not be paying for the ongoing appeal of President Donald Trump’s $83…

    Trump faces mounting pressure at home and abroad as he weighs options on Iran

    June 19, 2025

    Insights from FutureMed X Summit, ET HealthWorld

    June 19, 2025

    One Tech Tip: No more lost cats and dogs. Use tech to track your pet

    June 19, 2025
    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from SmartMag about art & design.

    Demo
    Top Posts

    ChatGPT’s viral Studio Ghibli-style images highlight AI copyright concerns

    March 28, 20254 Views

    Best Cyber Forensics Software in 2025: Top Tools for Windows Forensics and Beyond

    February 28, 20253 Views

    An ex-politician faces at least 20 years in prison in killing of Las Vegas reporter

    October 16, 20243 Views
    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • TikTok
    • WhatsApp
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    Latest Reviews
    Demo
    About Us
    About Us

    Your source for the lifestyle news. This demo is crafted specifically to exhibit the use of the theme as a lifestyle site. Visit our main page for more demos.

    We're accepting new partnerships right now.

    Email Us: info@example.com
    Contact: +1-320-0123-451

    Facebook X (Twitter) Pinterest YouTube WhatsApp
    Our Picks

    Appeals court says DOJ cannot represent Trump in appeal of E. Jean Carroll case

    June 19, 2025

    Trump faces mounting pressure at home and abroad as he weighs options on Iran

    June 19, 2025

    Insights from FutureMed X Summit, ET HealthWorld

    June 19, 2025
    Most Popular

    ChatGPT’s viral Studio Ghibli-style images highlight AI copyright concerns

    March 28, 20254 Views

    Best Cyber Forensics Software in 2025: Top Tools for Windows Forensics and Beyond

    February 28, 20253 Views

    An ex-politician faces at least 20 years in prison in killing of Las Vegas reporter

    October 16, 20243 Views

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    14 Trends
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest YouTube Dribbble
    • Home
    • Buy Now
    © 2025 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.