Many sectors of the US economy have been hit by shockwaves of lost workers because of fears over immigration crackdowns. Although it is still too soon to analyze the full impact of workplace shortages caused by immigration fears, economic experts and demographers say there is widespread anecdotal evidence that industries are being hit hard.
Ali Noorani, the executive director of the Washington-based advocacy group for immigrants rights, known as the National Immigration Forum, says that he has heard many stories from the service, growers, and construction industries. They say the Texas and national workforce is becoming destabilized and that states contemplating major policies on immigration enforcement are worst affected.
The issue is particularly prominent in Texas because the state is conservative but has one of the country’s largest populations of undocumented immigrants. The new law in the state has caused general worries among immigrants about the stricter national policies enacted by President Donald Trump, to be further exacerbated.
Opponents have slammed the law because it enables police to ask anyone they stop about their immigration status and to turn them over to immigration authorities on request. Any officers or Sheriffs who fail to comply could lose their jobs, face departmental fines, and even criminal charges. Construction is the biggest industry affected by the immigration crackdown, with Workers Defense Project, an immigrant rights organization, claiming that around 50 percent of the workers in the industry are undocumented immigrants.