American workers say Trump's immigration crackdown is causing labor shortages: "A strain on everyone."

US workers say Trump’s immigration crackdown is causing labor shortages: ‘A strain on everybody’

As Trump moves to strip over 1 million immigrants of legal status, factories grapple with slowdowns, say employees

Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration is piling pressure on US factories, according to employees and union leaders, as veteran workers from overseas are forced to leave their jobs.

As economists warn that the government's large-scale deportation ambitions could cost millions of jobs, workers at two plants—in Michigan and Kentucky—told The Guardian that industrial giants are facing labor shortages. The US president has taken steps to strip more than one million immigrants of their legal status in the US, including canceling the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan Parole Program (CHNV), which allowed hundreds of thousands to work legally in the country. Meanwhile, he has stepped up immigration arrest operations with planned daily quotas of 3,000 arrests per day. These measures have increased pressure on sectors of the US economy—including the food, hospitality, construction, transportation, and healthcare industries—that rely on large numbers of migrants to perform essential jobs.

At a GE Appliances plant in Louisville, Kentucky, more than 125 workers were abruptly laid off in the spring due to program cancellations as part of Trump's immigration crackdown, according to an employee. GE Appliances makes appliances such as refrigerators, microwaves, and dishwashers. "In three different buildings, on a couple of different shifts, stewards reported losing production, so they weren't able to make all the products they were supposed to," said Jess Reese, a replacement operator at the plant and an organizer with IUE-CWA Local 83761. "Certain assembly line jobs were difficult to fill, which led to chaos and was difficult to get results." Reese expressed concern about the threat of more workers being forced off the job. Trump's efforts to revoke protected status for Haiti could affect another 200 union members next February, she said. "Hundreds of workers suddenly disappearing is no joke, as we've seen with the last wave of mass layoffs."

A GE Appliances spokesperson stated, "We added additional staff where necessary and continue to comply with the law." Meanwhile, at a Kraft-Heinz plant in Holland, Michigan, workers are said to have been forced to work overtime. The company is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, behind brands like Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Jell-O desserts. "We had people there for 20 years, and all of a sudden they get notice that their immigration clearance is revoked," said Tomas Torres, a 13-year maintenance mechanic and president of RWDSU Local 705. "And they can't be there anymore, and that just puts a strain on everyone."

The lack of staff on the lines. There are employees operating two machines; there should be one person per machine. The manager and supervisors are stressed and cancel employee vacations because they don't have enough to operate the machines. Torres has been working 12- to 14-hour days, he said: part of the first shift, all of the second shift, and part of the third shift. "I'm tired. And there are people falling asleep on the line, and it's a serious safety issue," he added. "All of this has affected everyone at the plant. It's crazy, because I hear people complaining every day."

Kraft Heinz denied that the plant was experiencing labor shortages due to changes in immigration policy, but did not specify how many workers were lost due to these changes. "Kraft Heinz has strict work authorization verification processes that comply with all applicable laws and regulations," the company said in a statement. "Overtime is based on business needs, and we are currently in one of our busiest seasons of the year." As Trump officials press ahead, economists have warned that the deportation of millions of immigrants from the United States could have drastic consequences. The Economic Policy Institute estimated this month that 4 million deportations would result in the loss of 3.3 million immigrant jobs in the United States and 2.6 million native-born employees, affecting sectors such as construction and child care.

Meanwhile, the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, concluded that Trump's immigration policies would likely lead to negative net migration to the United States for the first time in decades and a decline in U.S. gross domestic product of between 0.3% and 0.4%, or between $70.5 billion and $94 billion in economic output, annually. "One day they're there," said Maria Jose Padmore, a human services aide in Fairfax County, Virginia. "And the next day, I look for my coworker, and they're gone because their Temporary Protected Status expired. Forget the fact that I now have to share jobs with my coworkers. Think about my coworkers' families: How are they going to put food on the table?"

Padmore participated in a panel on how Trump's immigration policies affect workers, organized by the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C., this month. Gwen Mills, president of Unite Here, the largest hospitality union in the United States, said they were "wreaking havoc on the families of our coworkers and in our communities." "Frequently within the labor movement, we find ourselves divided along sectoral lines," said Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which represents construction workers. "On immigration, it should be the factor that unites a hotel worker, a construction worker, a service worker, a public employee, and a teacher. This affects every worker in this country." The Trump administration alleges that the CHNV and other temporary protected status programs were abused, a claim that has been challenged by groups such as Refugees International.

“There is no shortage of American minds and hands to develop our workforce, and President Trump’s agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration’s commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential, while also fulfilling our mandate to enforce our immigration laws,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. However, his policies are already generating apprehension on the factory floors. “This has a real impact on immigrant workers, obviously, but also on non-immigrant workers,” said Reese, of GE’s Louisville appliance plant. “It’s critical that we stand together, because we all want the same thing: safe workplaces. We want good wages. We all want to go home to our families safely. We want to live in a safe place. We want to be free. These are things we all share, and we will only achieve them if we stand together.”