A recent meeting between federal immigration officials and industries seeking expanded access to foreign workers has intensified a dispute over whether labor shortages will weaken the administration’s promised enforcement campaign.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A meeting between the Department of Homeland Security and a coalition representing major employers has ignited a renewed debate inside the immigration policy community over whether business demands for foreign labor could reshape President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation agenda.
The administration has continued increasing immigration arrests, but the department’s outreach to groups representing construction companies, long-term care providers and other labor-intensive industries is creating uncertainty about the future direction of enforcement, according to an analysis by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
DHS officials met earlier in July with the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, an organization whose affiliated groups include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and several national trade associations, The Washington Post reported.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin did not participate, and the meeting produced no immediate policy announcement. Those familiar with the discussion nevertheless viewed it as a departure from the department’s relationship with business groups under former Secretary Kristi Noem.
“[The meeting] was cordial, it was constructive,” a person familiar with the discussion said, according to The Washington Post. “It’s actually very welcome because the last secretary [Noem] was absent, and her proxies were not very responsive.”
The outreach comes as competing organizations pressure DHS from opposite directions. Employer associations argue that aggressive immigration enforcement is worsening labor shortages and increasing costs, while restrictionist groups say the administration cannot fulfill Trump’s campaign commitments without broad workplace operations.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests quadrupled during Noem’s tenure, according to an April Deportation Data Project analysis.
Mullin’s appointment has prompted questions among some enforcement advocates because of his extensive business background and the possibility that industries dependent on foreign-born workers may receive a more receptive hearing.
Chris Chmielenski, president of the Immigration Accountability Project, said administration officials risk allowing corporate labor concerns to weaken enforcement against illegal employment.
“It’s no secret that some officials in the Trump administration have a blind spot for cheap, illegal labor. It comes as no surprise, then, that the DHS secretary is talking to business groups that have been advocating for amnesty and cheap foreign labor for years,” Chmielenski told the DCNF.
“The problem for the administration is that it is putting out unsubstantiated deportation numbers that no one believes, and it cannot achieve the level of mass deportations the base wants — and fulfill President Trump’s campaign promise — without conducting broad worksite enforcement.”
Chmielenski said employers experienced a surge of interest from U.S. workers after immigration raids removed workers who were unlawfully present.
Worksites were “flooded with American job applicants” following those operations, he told the DCNF.
“Many Americans want the jobs currently held by illegal aliens, provided employers offer reasonable pay and working conditions,” Chmielenski said. “Opening up these positions will ultimately help strengthen the labor market over the long term.”
He argued that the administration should measure immigration policy by its effect on citizens and legal compliance rather than by employer cost projections.
“The question shouldn’t be about what policy is best for a bunch of numbers on a spreadsheet. It should be about what policy best serves American workers and upholds the rule of law,” Chmielenski said. “That policy is the mass deportation of illegal aliens who have violated our immigration laws and national sovereignty.”
Despite speculation about a possible shift, immigration arrests have continued rising. ICE made more than 43,000 arrests in June, the highest monthly total since Trump returned to office, according to recent enforcement data.
The industries represented through the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition contend that the same enforcement activity is discouraging workers from reporting to job sites and reducing the labor available for construction, health care and other services.
Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President Kristen Swearingen said her organization supports removing dangerous criminals but believes wider enforcement is affecting workers beyond that category.
“ABC [Associated Builders and Contractors] supports the Trump administration’s original intent to deport criminals, lawbreakers and bad actors,” Swearingen told the DCNF. “However, many foreign-born workers are scared to return to their construction jobsites for fear they will be swept up in enforcement actions.”
ABC describes itself as a national construction association with 24,000 members and is listed among the organizations affiliated with EWIC.
Swearingen said reduced labor availability could slow construction projects and increase prices even when employers adjust wages or benefits to attract additional workers.
“To be clear, there is no place in our country for lawbreakers here to cause harm, and ABC opposes violence, coercion and intimidation of every kind,” she said.
“That said, the laws of supply and demand tell us that mass deportations constrain the availability of labor, which is stifling the ability of the industry to build the construction projects demanded by the marketplace.”
“In other words, the demand for projects may exceed the supply of workers, which could drive up costs, or consumer demand would adjust, reducing construction spending,” Swearingen continued. “The worker supply is constrained, so employers are most likely adjusting their employee value proposition to enhance their position in the marketplace to secure sufficient workers, again raising the cost of construction services.”
The construction industry will need to attract approximately 349,000 additional workers in 2026 to meet anticipated demand, ABC estimated in a January workforce analysis.
The association is promoting a market-based visa system while also supporting apprenticeships, career education and technical training intended to bring more Americans into construction occupations.
“ABC welcomes the opportunity to work with the Trump administration and Congress on workforce solutions that strengthen all business sectors, safeguard communities and protect hard-working Americans and foreign-born workers who want to work here legally and build our infrastructure,” Swearingen said.
Long-term care providers have raised similar concerns as nursing homes and assisted living facilities attempt to recruit enough caregivers for an aging population.
“Immigrants are a vital and highly valued part of the long term care workforce,” Dana Ritchie, associate vice president of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, told the DCNF.
“Every day, these dedicated caregivers provide compassionate, high-quality care that helps older adults and individuals with disabilities live with dignity.”
AHCA and NCAL describe their combined organization as the largest trade association representing long-term and post-acute care providers.
Approximately 280,000 immigrants living in the country illegally worked in the health care industry in 2018, according to an American Immigration Council report.
Ritchie urged policymakers to expand lawful options for international workers rather than rely on an unauthorized workforce.
“There is a critical need to develop sustainable workforce solutions to ensure long term care facilities can continue to serve our nation’s growing elderly population,” she said. “Expanding and streamlining legal pathways for international caregivers to work in long term care is a common sense solution.”
AHCA and NCAL will continue pursuing workforce proposals through their Caregivers for Tomorrow initiative, Ritchie said.
While employer groups emphasize vacancies and rising costs, the Federation for American Immigration Reform argues that illegal immigration itself imposes economic burdens on citizens by increasing labor competition, taxpayer expenses and demand for housing.
“FAIR continues to engage closely with DHS to ramp up deportations and increase worksite enforcement,” Joe Chatham, the organization’s government relations director, told the DCNF.
“The presence of millions of illegal aliens in the United States imposes a staggering cost on every American taxpayer, unfairly intensifies competition for jobs, and spikes housing and rent prices across the country.”
Housing has become another central part of the economic argument over immigration.
Haitians admitted under temporary immigration programs recorded a 28% homeownership rate, compared with 27.1% among members of Generation Z, according to previous reporting on housing patterns.
A Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas working paper estimated that every 1% increase in illegal immigration between early 2021 and early 2024 corresponded with a 2.2% increase in home prices.
Chatham said most people entering or remaining in the United States illegally do so for economic reasons and accept compensation and workplace conditions below the standards American workers would otherwise demand.
He described “the vast majority” as “economic migrants” who “accept below-market wages and working conditions that often violate American labor laws.”
“The Trump administration has carried out nearly half a million deportations already this fiscal year, and continuing to crack down on unscrupulous employers and illegal workers will only help to further eliminate economic incentives for illegal immigration and restore fair wages and job opportunities for U.S. citizens,” Chatham said.
The policy dispute confronting DHS therefore involves more than whether individual unauthorized immigrants should be removed.
Business associations want lawful immigration channels expanded and enforcement calibrated to prevent severe workforce disruption. Enforcement advocates argue that shortages should be addressed through higher compensation, improved conditions and greater recruitment of American workers rather than continued dependence on illegal labor.
The Essential Worker Immigration Coalition meeting did not result in a publicly announced retreat from mass deportations, and June’s record arrest total suggests ICE operations remain extensive.
The encounter nevertheless gave employer organizations an opportunity to make their case directly to the department at a time when DHS is determining how workplace enforcement will fit into the broader removal campaign.
Whether that access produces exemptions, expanded visa proposals or a change in enforcement priorities remains unresolved.
The administration’s eventual decisions will help determine whether industries accustomed to large foreign-born workforces must substantially change their recruitment and compensation practices or whether business pressure will narrow the scope of workplace arrests needed to carry out Trump’s promised deportation program.
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