Trump Targets Employers in Next Immigration Crackdown, Fueling Panic in U.S. Workplaces

Employer crackdown marks shift in Trump’s immigration strategy, threatening industries dependent on undocumented labor.

WASHINGTON — In a marked escalation of immigration enforcement strategy, the Trump administration is preparing to launch an aggressive crackdown on employers who hire undocumented immigrants — a shift that could shake labor markets across industries from meatpacking to construction.

The move, first reported by Semafor in an interview with White House border czar Tom Homan, signals a pivot from theatrical raids and rhetoric to something much more consequential: employer prosecutions.

“Worksite enforcement operations are going to massively expand,” Homan told Semafor, confirming fears that had already sent shockwaves through employer circles. Immigration attorneys said businesses — particularly in Los Angeles — are in “panic mode,” with some scrambling to audit their workforces or prepare for raids.

Behind closed doors, corporations are anxious. “Clients have been calling in a panic,” Chris Thomas, an immigration attorney at Holland & Hart, told Semafor. Though most claim ignorance about any undocumented workers on payroll, the threat of liability is already changing behavior.

Economic Shockwaves — and Political Tensions

The crackdown puts major swaths of the U.S. economy at risk. According to a 2021 survey cited by Semafor, nearly 25% of construction workers and up to half of all meatpacking workers are undocumented. Enforcement in those sectors could disrupt the very supply chains that Trump has promised to stabilize — and which businesses rely on for low-cost labor.

In its March securities filings, meatpacking giant Smithfield Foods warned that immigration enforcement could “disrupt a portion of our workforce.” DoorDash followed with similar language, acknowledging that a labor crackdown “may result in a decrease in the pool of Dashers.”

While business leaders worry, Trump is making it clear he sees employers — not just migrants — as responsible for what restrictionists call the “job magnet” of undocumented immigration.

“They’re coming here for a better life and a job, and I get that,” Homan told Semafor. “The more you remove those magnets, the less people are going to come.”

Still, Homan’s remarks reveal a complicated picture. Asked by Semafor whether employers are “bad guys,” Homan hedged: “Depends. I know some employers don’t know a fraudulent document from a legal document. But I truly believe that nobody hires an illegal alien from the goodness of their heart. They hire them because they can work them harder, pay them less, and undercut their competition.”

A Long-Awaited Clash Between Populism and Big Business

The pivot toward employer enforcement has long been anticipated — and long avoided. U.S. immigration law requires proof that employers knowingly hired undocumented workers, a legal threshold that has discouraged prosecutions for years. And unlike other developed nations, the U.S. has no universal requirement for employers to use the federal eVerify system, leaving the door wide open for identity fraud and informal hiring.

In 2018, during Trump’s first term, a worksite audit campaign and an $80 million civil settlement with Asplundh Tree Experts briefly signaled a turn toward employers. But that momentum stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, the gloves are off. The Department of Homeland Security, through Immigration and Customs Enforcement, recently raided four garment factories in Los Angeles and a meatpacking plant in Nebraska — a clear signal of what’s to come.

“Congress has a job to do,” Homan told Semafor. “We’re going to do worksite enforcement operations until there’s a deal made.”

But a deal seems remote. For years, immigration advocates have proposed legalizing Dreamers — immigrants who arrived as children — in exchange for a stronger employer verification system. Business leaders support it. Democrats have floated it. Even some Republicans have nodded to the concept.

Still, many in Trump’s base simply want fewer immigrants. As Semafor noted, this pits Trump’s populist wing directly against the corporate donors his administration also serves.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) put it plainly to Semafor: “Employer enforcement makes sense, but it has political impact on both sides. Many entrepreneurs who are Republican by inclination would protest mightily. They can’t have it both ways.”

A Strategy of Fear, or Real Reform?

Critics have long accused the Trump administration of hypocrisy — staging headline-grabbing raids while maintaining the structural impunity of employers. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) wrote on X, “This administration just takes care of its donors,” accusing Trump of prosecuting immigrants but not their bosses.

But the tide may be turning. “Most illegal aliens are regular working stiffs,” said Mark Krikorian, a longtime anti-immigration advocate and key policy adviser to the Trump team. “If you’re not going after those people [employers], you’re not going to change the fundamental calculus.”

The shift could also test Trump’s core campaign promises. Restricting immigrant labor may clash with two of his central goals: lowering food prices and making housing more affordable. “I won on the border, and I won on groceries,” Trump said — but construction and agriculture are sectors deeply reliant on undocumented workers.

Trump has hinted at a guest worker program, acknowledging the needs of “farmers, the hotels and…various places where they tend to need people.” But that notion is far from settled policy — and ICE raids continue.

Migrant Insider’s Take

If this is the long-threatened employer crackdown, it’s only just begun. For years, immigrant communities have borne the brunt of enforcement while the systems that make their exploitation possible have remained untouched. What Semafor exposes here is the first real indication that those systems — and their corporate sponsors — may now be in the government’s crosshairs.

The question is whether this is a principled policy shift — or just the latest maneuver in a political war where migrant labor remains the lowest common denominator.