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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIn corporate boardrooms across the country, immigration is dominating the conversation.
Mentions of “immigration” on earnings calls from S&P 1500 companies have surged to a record high during the first quarter, surpassing the early period of President Donald Trump’s first term, which set a high, according to a Bloomberg analysis of transcripts of earnings calls, presentations and company events dating to 2002.
The heightened focus reflects broader anxiety about the labor supply at a time when companies are already navigating the potential costs of an on-again-off-again trade war and some signs of strain in the US economy.
For now, Trump’s vow to carry out the largest deportation push in U.S. history remains more of a threat than reality as the president seeks more money from Congress for detention beds and deportation flights. Large-scale removals have yet to materialize, and legal battles over tighter immigration policy continue to play out. But for companies reliant on immigrant labor, the uncertainty alone is cause for concern.
Foreign-born workers make up almost 20% of the U.S. labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and they play an outsized role in key industries such as construction, transportation and hospitality.
Meritage Homes Corp., a national builder of single-family homes, calls immigration a “top of mind” issue. Developers like Meritage, already contending with tariffs on steel and aluminum and the threat of new softwood lumber duties, depend on immigrant labor more than many other industries. At least 25% of construction workers are foreign-born, according to the BLS.
ABM Industries Inc., a facility-services contractor, is closely watching immigration policy for its potential impact on “the balance of supply and demand for qualified workers,” CEO Scott Salmirs told analysts this month. Many of the company’s jobs are in services positions, like custodian work or security officers.
Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. has flagged the challenge of staffing medical facilities in rural areas.
“To the extent that we can legally bring in immigrants to supplement the nursing force, that helps,” said Megan Krull, Omega’s senior vice president for operations. “We’ll just have to wait to see how that all progresses.”
So far, major companies in sectors ranging from retail to manufacturing say they haven’t felt a direct hit. From Walmart Inc. to Sherwin-Williams Co., executives fielding analyst questions on the issue indicated they’re watching the situation, saying it’s either too soon to tell or that immigration policy has yet to disrupt operations.
And not all businesses are on edge.
CoreCivic Inc., a prison operator that contracts with federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service, anticipates a “sharp acceleration in demand,” CEO Damon Hininger told analysts last month. A proposal to add 28,000 beds for detainees could generate an additional $1.5 billion in revenue, and the company may activate some of its idle facilities on new contracts signed this year.
Fellow private-prison operator Geo Group Inc. last month announced a $1 billion ICE contract for an immigration processing facility in New Jersey, saying the federal government’s crackdown was an “unprecedented opportunity.” Geo Group’s shares are up about 90% since the close on Election Day, even after paring some gains since Trump’s January inauguration, while CoreCivic is up roughly 50%.
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Like it or not the U.S. is highly reliant on immigrant labor and has been throughout our history. The reality is this country was built by immigrants whether from Europe or other continents. Look at who picks our food, replaces our roofs, builds and paints our houses, tends those green areas we like so much. For the most part they are immigrants, who also built our first transcontinental railroads, work in the factories and more. We need immigrants and we need a way for immigrants to become citizens who contribute to this nation; like it or not.
The problem remains, legal vs. illegal immigrants. We all want and need legal immigration, but these articles and pundits continue to mix all into one. The illegal immigrants, especially criminals, are the only issue. This automatic narrative of just saying immigrants has totally confused the public. It’s the illegal and criminal immigrants that are being pursued. But of course, the narrative sells more media.
It’s the fault of the media that Republicans can be brought into a froth by saying the words “white replacement theory”?
America has a long history of blaming everything on immigrants. Rare is the person who doesn’t have such a “undesirable” in their family tree.
But Republicans have made it pretty clear that they aren’t just interested in illegal immigrants. People are being questioned by authorities just for how they look, Republicans are gutting existing, LEGAL protections for immigrants, and Republicans are deliberately making it more difficult to legally immigrate here.
Republicans still haven’t figured out that “banning” things or intentionally throwing wrenches in administrative gears doesn’t actually stem the unwanted activities or behaviors. Lowering how many legal immigrants can come to our country in any given year, limiting funds for immigration processing, and setting arbitrary wealth requirements for immigrants (sorry, no poors!) doesn’t decrease immigration. It just makes desperate people find illegal avenues to get the job done. It didn’t work with alcohol, it hasn’t worked with sex work, it didn’t work with weed, and it won’t work with immigration.
Until Republicans actually put up a plan to fix legal immigration and make it so that those who actually want to seek opportunity can come here, not just already-wealthy foreigners, then I don’t buy the argument of “Well, it’s only about illegal immigration.” Republicans set the bar for what was illegal back in the Reagan Administration. So why haven’t they taken any action on it since?
How many illegal immigrants are criminals? And how many legal immigrants are criminals?
Please provide data supporting the assertion. How many? From where? Which crimes?
What about the crime [by US citizens] of knowingly hiring those without legal status.
The often stated concern about immigrant criminals is vastly exaggerated — a scare and scapegoat tactic to garner votes from those who are ignorant of facts.
Still, a major component of the construction industry is manpower from individuals who do not have legal status in the US. But states such as Texas benefits massively from low cost labor from these individuals yet the governor hypocritically rails against illegal immigrants. Why has ICE not focused on Texas, a state with companies which have for decades employed massive numbers of people without legal status at low pay and in an exploitative situation.
Foreign labor allows the US to enjoy its relatively high standard of living. And those without legal status pay taxes benefitting state and federal coffers but get nothing in return as they cannot file taxes.
Lastly, many companies and businesses hire individuals worth full knowledge that they do not have legal status. Why not call the employers on the carpet.