Immigrant labor fuels US economy but Trump’s crackdown mostly ignores it
Associated PressThe Trump administration is touting an immigration crackdown that includes putting shackled immigrants on U.S. military planes, expanding agents’ arrests of people here illegally and abandoning programs that gave some permission to stay. “It’s not black and white.” The problem, people here say, is that mass deportations or mandatory E-Verify programs would create critical labor shortages unless they are paired with new legal pathways for immigrant workers. “Does anyone think this is what Idaho voters wanted when they overwhelmingly voted to send President Trump back to the White House?” Wold wrote on X. Trump and E-Verify When pressed, Trump administration officials say they will be going after the companies that hire people who are in the U.S. illegally, as well as the workers. In 2019, amid reports that some workers at Trump businesses were in the U.S. illegally, Trump’s son Eric, the executive vice president of the family company, said it would “ institute E-Verify at any property not currently utilizing this system.” But the E-Verify registry shows it took years for many Trump properties to sign up.
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