Trump's immigration policy affects the U.S. labor market

Thousands of immigrants have lost their jobs in the United States since President Donald Trump ended the humanitarian parole program that granted legal work permits to citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, directly affecting sectors that rely on foreign labor.

According to a report by Associated Press (AP), the decision has left individuals like María, a 48-year-old Nicaraguan who cleaned schools in Florida for 13 dollars an hour, without income or the ability to support her son.

After being laid off in August, her situation is critical: “I have no money to buy anything. I have five dollars in my account. I’m left with nothing,” she said on condition of anonymity for fear of being detained or deported.

The migration offensive by Trump, which aims to halt what he has termed an "invasion" at the southern border and protect jobs for American citizens, is impacting both unskilled workers and highly specialized foreign professionals, emphasized AP.

The impact is twofold: mass deportations and restrictions on legal immigration are reducing the flow of workers in key sectors just as the economy faces a slowdown in hiring.

Companies like Goodwin Living, a nonprofit organization in Virginia that provides services to seniors, had to lay off Haitian employees who had received promotions through the canceled program.

Its general director, Rob Liebreich, warned that they could still lose another 60 immigrant workers: “We need all those people, we need those hands.”

The immigration law signed by Trump on July 4, known as One Big Beautiful Bill Act, injected 150 billion dollars into the deportation machinery, including funds to hire 10,000 new ICE agents and expand detention centers.

The raids have not been long in coming. In Georgia, authorities arrested 300 South Korean workers at a Hyundai battery plant, sparking a diplomatic crisis with Seoul and contradicting the government's own efforts to attract foreign investment.

The impact also reaches the agricultural sector. Farmers like John Boyd Jr. in Virginia claim that the lack of workers is jeopardizing food production.

“These are workers who do the hard jobs that many Americans do not want to do,” he stated.

The administration itself has acknowledged that the shortage of labor is causing an increase in costs within the food supply chain and could result in higher prices for consumers.

The migration clampdown affects both those who pick tomatoes and those who develop technology.

Trump abruptly raised the cost of the H-1B visa from $215 to $100,000, which experts interpret as a direct message aimed at deterring the influx of foreign talent.

"That amount is not just a bureaucratic formality; it's a signal: you are not welcome here," noted Dany Bahar from the Center for Global Development.

The slowdown is already palpable. From June to August, monthly job creation fell to an average of just 29,000 new positions, compared to the 400,000 recorded each month between 2021 and 2023.

The U.S. budgetary Congress has reduced its economic growth forecast for this year to 1.4%, partly due to the consequences of Trump's immigration and trade policies.

For many analysts, this situation jeopardizes not only the current labor market in the country but also its capacity for innovation and long-term growth.

The message they perceive from the outside is clear: the United States is no longer a land of opportunity, but rather one of rejection.

Last month, more than a million immigrants disappeared from the U.S. labor market as a direct consequence of the immigration raids driven by the Donald Trump administration.

Key sectors such as agriculture, construction, and caregiving have lost thousands of workers, leaving crops unharvested, construction projects halted, and an increasing inability to meet the demand for essential services.

In this context, Florida agricultural producers warned that the harvest season could be seriously affected by the decrease in the arrival of foreign workers with H-2A visas. Although these employees are legally authorized, the fear of raids and arbitrary detentions has discouraged their participation.

Farmers report that even those with all their documents have been intercepted by immigration authorities, creating an atmosphere of insecurity that jeopardizes local production.

Under pressure from the agricultural sector, Trump publicly acknowledged the importance of immigrants for agriculture and suggested that his administration is evaluating mechanisms to allow the legal return of certain deported workers.

Despite this apparent change in tone, no effective measures have been implemented to alleviate the situation in the agricultural sector, leaving employers and laborers in a state of labor limbo.

Organizations and congress members have warned that economic losses could escalate if a more coherent immigration policy aligned with the country's productive needs is not implemented.

Meanwhile, an academic report revealed that Latinos have been crucial in sustaining the U.S. economy during and after the pandemic.

In fact, if Latin America's GDP were an independent economy, it would be the fifth largest in the world. Its contribution to essential sectors such as healthcare, transportation, agriculture, and services has been crucial for the sustained growth of the region in recent years.

This contribution stands in stark contrast to the tightening of immigration policies that now threaten to hinder the economic development driven precisely by those who have contributed the most to sustaining it.

Impact of Trump's Immigration Policy on the Labor Market in the U.S.