Immigration

Is DHS Caving To Corporatocracy’s Demand For Cheap ‘Illegal’ Labor?

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Ambiguity is growing over whether the White House will fulfill its promise of mass deportations after lobbyists who want cheap foreign labor appear to get immigration officials’ ear.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials met earlier this month with the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition (EWIC) — which represents the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) and multiple other trade associations, The Washington Post reported Sunday. While DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin didn’t attend and no immediate policy changes came out of it, the meeting reportedly showed a shift from previous DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s approach to corporate relations.

“[The meeting] was cordial, it was constructive,” a person familiar with the meeting 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 DHS, USCC, and multiple other organizations affiliated with the coalition did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

“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,” Immigration Accountability Project (IAP) president Chris 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 told the DCNF that worksites “flooded with American job applicants” after ICE raids removed illegal aliens from them. “Many Americans want the jobs currently held by illegal aliens, provided employers offer reasonable pay and working conditions. Opening up these positions will ultimately help strengthen the labor market over the long term.”

“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. That policy is the mass deportation of illegal aliens who have violated our immigration laws and national sovereignty,” he said.

Despite the ambiguity, ICE still appears to be ramping up arrests, with over 43,000 made last month — a record high since President Donald Trump took office. Multiple organizations affiliated with the coalition DHS recently met with decried the economic consequences of the administration’s mass deportations.

“ABC [Associated Builders and Contractors] supports the Trump administration’s original intent to deport criminals, lawbreakers and bad actors. However, many foreign-born workers are scared to return to their construction jobsites for fear they will be swept up in enforcement actions,” ABC vice president Kristen Swearingen told the DCNF when asked how the mass deportations affected the construction industry.

ABC is a 24,000-member construction trade association. It’s listed among the groups affiliated with EWIC, but ABC did not participate in the meeting with DHS.

“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. 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,” she said. “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. 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 faces a shortage of nearly 350,000 workers in 2026, ABC estimated in a January press release. Swearingen also told the DCNF that ABC is promoting a market-based worker visa system while continuing to prepare Americans for such careers through apprenticeship and technical education programs.

“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.

Another organization affiliated with the coalition voiced its concern about mass deportations.

“Immigrants are a vital and highly valued part of the long term care workforce. Every day, these dedicated caregivers provide compassionate, high-quality care that helps older adults and individuals with disabilities live with dignity,” American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) associate vice president Dana Ritchie told the DCNF.

AHCA/NCAL is the largest trade association in the long-term and post-acute care industry, according to its website. Nearly 280,000 illegal aliens worked in the healthcare industry in 2018, according to the American Immigration Council.

“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. Expanding and streamlining legal pathways for international caregivers to work in long term care is a common sense solution,” Ritchie said.

Ritchie told the DCNF that AHCA/NCAL “will continue to work with policymakers to pursue these and other practical policies” through its Caregivers for Tomorrow initiative.

However, the Foundation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) praised the White House’s previous mass deportation efforts.

“FAIR continues to engage closely with DHS to ramp up deportations and increase worksite enforcement. 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,” FAIR government relations director Joe Chatham told the DCNF.

Mass migration doesn’t just affect the labor market, but the housing market too. Haitians on temporary visas outpaced Zoomers in homeownership (28% versus 27.1%, respectively), the DCNF previously reported. Additionally, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimated that for every 1% that illegal immigration increased from early 2021 through early 2024, housing prices increased 2.2%.

Chatham noted that “the vast majority” of illegal aliens are “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.”