ICE in the Desert: How Trump's Mass Deportations Cripple Las Vegas
The city of immigrants faces a bleak 2025 as deportations and fear drive away the workers and tourists who fuel its economy.
ANALYSIS: It’s a cruel irony that Las Vegas—the fantasyland built by immigrants, fed by immigrants, and cleaned by immigrants—is now struggling to keep its lights on in a country doing everything it can to chase those very people out.
Tourism in Las Vegas, once the silver bullet of Nevada’s economy, is beginning to slow just as President Donald Trump returns to power with a vengeance. In a city that pulled in over $55 billion in visitor spending last year, the vibes are now off—and the numbers back it up. International travel is dropping.
Hotel occupancy is slipping. Gaming revenue is falling. And according to early figures, 2025 is on track to become the first post-pandemic year where Las Vegas’ visitor economy contracts instead of grows.
But this isn’t just a story about tariffs and trade wars (although Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff drama has also wreaked havoc). It’s about who is no longer welcome—and how that message is being heard loud and clear far beyond the border.
ICE in the Desert
Across industries, Trump’s hardline immigration policies are bleeding Las Vegas dry. According to a report from Clarify Capitol, one in five U.S. business owners have lost employees in the past year due to deportations, visa denials, or ICE raids. In hospitality—Las Vegas’ economic lifeblood—those numbers hit particularly hard.
“We’re so reliant on the leisure and hospitality sector that, if visitors don’t come, you’re sort of dead in the water,” Stephen Miller, economist and professor at UNLV, told Las Vegas Weekly.
But it’s not just the tourists who aren’t coming. It’s also the workers who make the city run. With immigration enforcement ramping up across the country, workers are disappearing—some deported, some too afraid to return to their jobs, and some simply choosing not to come to the U.S. in the first place.
Nearly 72 percent of small business owners throughout the United States say they’ve been forced to cut hours, shut down locations, or delay expansion due to hiring problems. Forty-nine percent say they’re considering moving to states with looser immigration rules.
“There’s a shortage of people willing to show up for work,” says Kevin Thompson, CEO of 9i Capital Group. “And it’s not because they’re lazy or unreliable. It’s because they’re being hunted.”
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Fear at the Check-In Desk
The data paints a bleak picture. Canadian airline WestJet is pulling summer routes to Las Vegas. Air Canada travel dropped nearly 6 percent in March. Mexican airline Aeromexico saw a 17.9 percent year-over-year decline. And domestic carriers are so unsure of what lies ahead that many have simply stopped offering 2025 forecasts altogether.
LVCVA President Steve Hill says the writing’s already on the wall. “We see slower bookings as we head into summer,” he said. “All of [our partners] are concerned.”
And who wouldn’t be? Trump’s trade policies have destabilized markets, consumer confidence is at historic lows, and a looming ICE presence is enough to scare off both workers and tourists. It’s the kind of one-two punch Las Vegas hasn’t faced since the 2008 crash—or the pandemic.
Hill’s office is already planning for a $51 million deficit in next year’s tourism budget. At the same time, they’re throwing $37 million into advertising—hoping to lure travelers back with glitz and glamour. But no amount of neon can disguise the scent of fear in the air.
Whose City Is This?
Las Vegas wasn’t built by the powerful. It was built by the invisible. It was built by Mexican cooks in the buffets and Filipino maids scrubbing toilets in the suites. It was built by Guatemalan dishwashers, Salvadoran landscapers, and South Asian valet drivers. These are not just laborers—they are the cultural and economic engine of the city.
Yet they are being driven out under the banner of “law and order.” What’s left behind is a gaping labor hole and a growing sense of instability. “Trump’s immigration policies are economic self-sabotage,” says HR consultant Bryan Driscoll. “Small businesses are bearing the brunt. These stats are a glaring indictment of policies that prioritize fear over stability.”
And the pain is not just economic. It’s personal. Families are being separated. Communities are living in fear. Children are seeing parents disappear. The house of cards is trembling, and Las Vegas—like so many other cities that rely on immigrant labor—is left trying to sweep up the chips.
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Nico’s Take:
Las Vegas has always been resilient. It has weathered recessions, terror threats, housing busts, and COVID-19. But this is different. This isn’t a natural disaster or a market correction. This is federal policy—calculated, targeted, and persistent. “You can do everything in the world to try to insulate yourself from downturns,” says Miller, “but if visitors don’t come, you’re sort of dead in the water.”
The real gamble isn’t being played at the poker tables. It’s being played in Washington, where a presidency built on walls and raids is rolling the dice with the lives of millions—and with the future of a city that sells escape to the world. The lights may still be on in Vegas, but the question is: how long can they stay that way?