Immigrant workers have disappeared
Industries that are hurting include agriculture, meat-packing, construction, and senior care
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What’s going on with businesses that depend on immigrant workers? This week we’ll take a look locally and nationally.
Paul Krugman, a Nobel-winning economist, recently published a chart (below) showing the arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during 15 months of the Biden administration followed by the six months under President Trump. The number is accelerating under Trump.
Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff, has been promising to deport 3,000 immigrants a day,
Impact in Cleveland and Ohio
A January ICE raid that resulted in 20 arrests in Cleveland Heights, including at a Mexican restaurant, attracted local media attention. Other local businesses in the area later rallied to support neighboring businesses that employ immigrants.
As of Sept. 5, ICE was holding more than 450 people in county jails across Ohio, Signal Cleveland reported. “U.S. ICE is currently holding 61,000 people, according to its most recent detention reporting. Masked ICE agents have rounded them up at construction sites, immigration courts, Home Depot parking lots and other places.”
Around the country
More than 70% of those held by ICE nationally have no criminal convictions, according to federal data analyzed by researchers at Syracuse University.
The Syracuse researchers also found that less than 2% of the 2025 cases seeking deportation orders were based on any alleged criminal activity of the immigrant, apart from possible illegal entry.
Disappearing workers. Construction companies looking for inexpensive day laborers go to home improvement stores, where immigrants looking for work are known to gather.
Both parties benefit from this arrangement. Undocumented or illegal workers avoid the formal economy and employers avoid payroll taxes and benefits. At least, that’s the way it’s worked until now.
Run, hide, protect family. For immigrant workers who have family members with them, it’s a risk to go to work, knowing that they all could be caught up in a raid. Some local businesses have had to reduce hours or service because they can’t find workers.
‘The war on immigrants’
The investigative news site The Intercept has reported on ICE activities in the nation’s capital. “As part of the federal takeover of D.C., ICE agents have been targeting delivery drivers for the likes of Uber, Grubhub, and DoorDash.” And so far, their employers have stayed silent and not come to their defense.
The Intercept reported, “In Washington, many delivery drivers are recently arrived Venezuelan immigrants, putting them even more in harm’s way because ICE is fast-tracking deportations for people who have not been in the U.S. for long.”
Airlines profit from deportations. Last month, the Associated Press reported, “Tom Cartwright, a retired J.P. Morgan financial officer turned immigration advocate, tracked 1,214 deportation-related flights in July — the highest level since he started watching in January 2020.
About 80% are operated by three airlines: GlobalX, Eastern Air Express and Avelo Airlines. They carry immigrants to other airports to be transferred to overseas flights or take them across the border, mostly to Central American countries and Mexico.”
How has ICE activity affected your business community?