Trump’s immigration crackdown hasn’t boosted employment for US-born workers

In many labour-intensive roles that rely heavily on immigrants, employers can’t easily replace them with US-born workers. Read more at straitstimes.com.

WASHINGTON – One year into US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, there’s little evidence that closed borders are boosting employment for US-born workers.

Net migration into the US may have been negative in 2025 for the first time in at least 50 years, according to estimates from researchers at the centre-right American Enterprise Institute and centre-left Brookings Institution.

That squeeze coincided with a rise in joblessness among the native-born, even as some businesses say it’s becoming more challenging to fill positions.

Economists say the disconnect reflects a structural mismatch: In many labour-intensive roles that rely heavily on immigrants, employers can’t easily replace them with American workers.

That undercuts a central tenet of Mr Trump’s agenda and, if it persists, could also restrain economic growth over time.

“Look at what we’re seeing: The US-born unemployment rate has been going up. The US-born labour force participation rate has dropped,” said Mr Mark Regets, a senior fellow at the National Foundation for American Policy, a non-partisan research organisation that focuses on trade and immigration.