Businesses Sound Alarm on Urgent Labor Shortages Amid Immigration Crackdown
Source: Newsweek
Published Oct 14, 2025 at 05:00 AM EDT updated Oct 14, 2025 at 10:19 AM EDT
Business leaders and Hispanic advocacy groups are urging policy changes to allow long-term, tax-paying immigrant workers to obtain legal work permits, citing concerns over labor shortages. The push comes as employers report difficulty filling critical roles across industries such as construction, hospitality, agriculture and health care.
President Donald Trump and his administration are increasing efforts to carry out widespread immigration arrests and removals as part of the GOP's aggressive mass deportation agenda. The policy has raised concerns about its potential ripple effects on the economy, including its impact on the workforce and the risk of exacerbating labor shortages in certain industries with a high number of immigrant workers.
One tool employers currently use to fill seasonal or short-term nonagricultural positions is the H-2B visa, a temporary, non-immigrant program frequently utilized by the hospitality and tourism sectors when there are not enough American workers available.
Massey Villarreal, Co-Chair of Comité de 100, a bipartisan coalition of prominent Mexican American and Latino business leaders, emphasized the economic importance of immigrant workers. "We are calling for a common-sense work permit program that recognizes the essential contributions of long-term, tax-paying, law-abiding immigrant workers—especially those who have become indispensable to our economy and communities," Villarreal told Newsweek.
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/businesses-urgent-labor-shortages-immigration-crackdown-10869620
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