How Will Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Affect American Businesses?

President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has created questions for economists, employers, and workers as to how the decrease in migrant workers may impact the job market and the economy. 

Labor Losses in the Healthcare Sector: An analysis by Politico (Lean Left bias) suggested that both authorized and unauthorized immigrant workers make up a “disproportionate share of the health care workforce,” particularly in areas that already experience labor shortages, such as long-term care for the elderly and those with disabilities. Politico claimed that the Trump administration’s effort to end humanitarian parole and temporary protected status could “devastate the health sector.”

Declining Employment Growth: Wall Street Journal (Center) highlighted that the employment rate has slowed in sectors that rely heavily on migrant workers, like construction and agriculture. However, it also pointed out that data on unauthorized migrant workers is difficult to collect because employers may not share accurate information about workers they pay under the table. Unauthorized migrant workers may also be reluctant to participate in Labor Department surveys, which is where most unemployment data comes from. Ultimately, it concluded that it is too soon to tell the impacts Trump’s crackdown will have on the labor force.

Higher Wages for Native-Born Workers? An analysis by The Heritage Foundation (Right) more optimistically claims that the immigration crackdown could lead to higher wages for native-born workers. The analysis quoted Vice President J.D. Vance’s argument that removing unauthorized migrants who are willing to work for low wages will encourage employers to increase wages, saying “plenty of Americans are both willing and capable of taking such jobs if they were offered at living wages.”

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.