As President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies take hold, stories like Maria’s are becoming all too common across the United States.
The 48-year-old Nicaraguan immigrant, who had been cleaning schools in Florida for $13 an hour, lost her job in August when the administration ended a humanitarian parole program that granted her a legal work permit.
“I feel desperate,’’ Maria said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fears of detention and deportation.
“I don’t have any money to buy anything. I have $5 in my account. I’m left with nothing.’’
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Her $900 biweekly paycheck had covered essentials like rent in a shared home with her 11-year-old son and five other families, plus utilities, a cellphone, and food.
Now, she’s among thousands facing sudden unemployment as Trump’s crackdown disrupts the labor market at a vulnerable time.
The president’s sweeping measures are not only deporting undocumented workers but also limiting legal pathways for immigrants, affecting industries from agriculture to tech.
This comes as U.S. hiring has already cooled, exacerbated by uncertainties from Trump’s trade policies.
Immigrants have long filled critical roles—cleaning, farming, construction—that many native-born Americans avoid, often at lower wages.
They also contribute high-level skills and innovation that bolster the economy.
“Immigrants are good for the economy,’’ said Lee Branstetter, an economist at Carnegie-Mellon University.
“Because we had a lot of immigration over the past five years, an inflationary surge was not as bad as many people expected.’’
Recent influxes of foreign workers helped ease labor shortages, keeping wage and price pressures in check without triggering a recession, as many economists had feared in 2023 and 2024.
More workers meant more jobs filled, more spending, and sustained growth.
But experts warn Trump’s policies could reverse these gains.
In a July report, researchers Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson of the Brookings Institution, along with Stan Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute, estimated that the loss of foreign workers could push monthly U.S. job growth to “near zero or negative in the next few years.’’
Hiring has already decelerated sharply, averaging just 29,000 jobs per month from June through August—far below the 400,000 monthly average during the 2021-2023 post-pandemic boom.
(The September report is delayed due to the federal government shutdown.)
The Congressional Budget Office has slashed its 2025 growth forecast to 1.4% from 1.9%, citing impacts from immigration and trade policies—down from 2.5% in 2024.
Healthcare and Senior Services Feel the Pinch
Nonprofits and essential services are reeling from the changes.
Goodwin Living, a Virginia-based organization offering senior housing, healthcare, and hospice, laid off four Haitian employees after their work permits under the humanitarian parole program were revoked.
These workers had earned promotions during their time there.
“That was a very, very difficult day for us,” said CEO Rob Liebreich.
“It was really unfortunate to have to say goodbye to them, and we’re still struggling to fill those roles.’’
Liebreich expressed concern for another 60 immigrant workers at risk of losing their temporary protected status.
With 60% of Goodwin’s 1,500 employees hailing from foreign countries, the organization has faced ongoing shortages in nursing, therapy, and maintenance roles.
“We need all those hands,’’ he said.
“We need all these people.”
Trump’s policies, Liebreich added, are “making it harder.’’
ICE Raids Disrupt Key Industries
Trump’s ambitions to deport 1 million people annually—framed as countering an “invasion’’ at the southern border—gained traction with the July 4 signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The legislation allocates $150 billion for enforcement, including $46.5 billion for 10,000 new ICE agents and $45 billion for expanded detention centers.
ICE has acted swiftly, sometimes clashing with other White House priorities.
In September, agents raided a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia, detaining 300 South Korean workers and releasing footage of some in shackles.
These experts were essential for launching the facility, bringing specialized knowledge in battery tech and company protocols.
The raid strained U.S.-South Korea relations, with President Lee Jae Myung warning that it could deter future investments.
It undercut Trump’s efforts to attract foreign manufacturers amid his trade agenda.
Farmers Brace for Higher Costs and Food Price Spikes
Agriculture, a stronghold of Trump support, is feeling the strain.
John Boyd Jr., a Virginia farmer and founder of the National Black Farmers Association, highlighted how raids are worsening challenges from low crop prices, high costs, and the U.S.-China trade war, which halted Chinese purchases of American soybeans and sorghum.
“You got ICE out here, herding these people up,’’ Boyd said.
“(Trump) says they’re murderers and thieves and drug dealers, all this stuff. But these are people who are in this country doing hard work that many Americans don’t want to do.’’
He dismissed Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ July suggestion that Medicaid recipients could fill farm jobs to meet new work requirements: “People in the city aren’t coming back to the farm to do this kind of work,’’ Boyd said.
“It takes a certain type of person to bend over in 100-degree heat.’’
Even the administration acknowledges the fallout.
In an Oct. 2 Federal Register filing, the Labor Department noted that “the near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens combined with the lack of an available legal workforce’’ is causing “significant disruptions to production costs and (threatens) the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S consumers.’’
Broader Economic Warnings: Innovation and Productivity at Risk
Economist Jed Kolko of the Peterson Institute for International Economics pointed to slowing job growth in immigrant-dependent sectors, like construction, which lost 10,000 jobs since May.
“Those are the short-term effects,’’ said Kolko, a former Biden Commerce official.
“The longer-term effects are more serious because immigrants traditionally have contributed more than their share of patents, innovation, productivity.’’
A particularly alarming move was Trump’s September hike in H-1B visa fees—from as low as $215 to $100,000—for skilled foreign workers.
“A $100,000 visa fee is not just a bureaucratic cost — it’s a signal,” said Dany Bahar, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.
“It tells global talent: ‘You are not welcome here.’’’
Some are heeding the message.
An Indian H-1B holder in Washington, D.C.—a Harvard graduate working for a nonprofit aiding Africa’s poor—said the policy signals employers to avoid such hires.
Speaking anonymously, he revealed he’s preparing to relocate to the United Kingdom: “The damage is already done, unfortunately.’’
As Trump’s policies unfold, the U.S. economy faces a precarious balance: protecting American jobs while risking the workforce and innovation that have driven its success.
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