Donald Trump’s immigration siege is sending shockwaves through America’s hotels, restaurants, and tourist hotspots. Workers say fear is spreading fast, jobs are vanishing, and visitors are staying away. The hospitality industry, heavily reliant on immigrant labour, is feeling the cold blast.

Nearly a third of hospitality workers in the United States are immigrants, and unions warn the crackdown is hitting them first and hardest. According to a new report from Unite Here, employment in the hospitality sector dropped by 98,000 workers between December 2024 and December 2025. Union leaders say the policies of Donald Trump are driving workers underground and pushing tourists away.

The numbers are stark. Tourism revenue in the US fell by $1.2bn, a 5.5% drop, between September 2024 and September 2025. At the same time, international tourism rose elsewhere in the world, making the American slump even more glaring.

Union officials say fear is everywhere. Wade Lüneburg of Unite Here Local 17 in Minneapolis said many immigrant members are terrified to show up for work. Earlier this year, 16 airport workers were detained by immigration enforcement despite being legally authorised to work and having passed TSA background checks.

Those detentions sent a chill through workplaces. The Department of Homeland Security and the White House declined to comment on the arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Workers say the silence has only deepened anxiety.

The crackdown goes beyond raids. Policies ranging from cancelling temporary protected status to expanding travel visa bans and detaining tourists have taken a toll. Unite Here reports that international visitors to the US dropped by 2.5 million in 2025 alone.

Minnesota has been hit particularly hard. Lüneburg said fewer Canadians crossed the border, contributing to a 15% drop in international air travellers to the state in 2025. Attendance from Canada at the World Junior Hockey championships plunged, and small businesses in Minneapolis reportedly lost up to $81m in revenue in January 2026.

Union president Gwen Mills warned the damage is spreading well beyond immigrant families. She said scenes of street violence, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and fearmongering are discouraging both domestic and foreign travel. The impact, she said, is economic as well as human.

Other cities are feeling the pain. In Washington DC, a record number of restaurants closed in 2025, while new openings slowed by 30%. Las Vegas saw tourism drop 7.5% over the same year.

Workers on the ground say the slowdown is obvious. Shaleah Taylor, a guest room attendant in Las Vegas, said business has clearly slowed. Guests are spending less, she said, and workers who rely on tips are watching their incomes shrink.

In Atlantic City, hotel housekeeper Moana Molly said staffing shortages are growing worse. Several co-workers left because of the immigration crackdown, she said, leaving those who remain with heavier workloads. Applications have dried up, and shifts are stretching longer.

Economic experts warn the long-term fallout could be brutal. A July 2025 report by the Economic Policy Institute estimated that Trump’s deportation goal of 4 million people would wipe out 3.3 million immigrant jobs and 2.6 million jobs held by US-born workers.

Fear is no longer limited to immigrants. Greg Barney, a line cook at St Anselm in Washington DC, said visitor numbers dropped sharply. While he was not personally afraid of detention, many of his friends and co-workers were, and the tension weighed on everyone.

The administration is pushing back. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said removing criminals makes communities safer and more attractive to tourists and businesses. A White House spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, argued there is no labour shortage, citing a youth unemployment rate of 8.9% in 2024.

But workers say the damage is already done. As immigration enforcement tightens and tourism falters, the hospitality industry is bracing for more losses. And with no policy shift in sight, the fear gripping kitchens, hotels, and airports may only deepen.

Key Takeaways

• Immigration raids and visa crackdowns are driving workers away from hospitality jobs.

• Tourism revenue and international visitors to the US are plunging fast.

• Workers warn fear and staffing shortages are crippling hotels and restaurants.

Trump’s immigration siege is rattling hospitality industry, workers say

Sweet better deals coming. What happens in Vegas and all that.

ICE froze tourism. What did they expect?!?

Hospitality workers thought they were getting no tax on their paycheck.

What they are getting is no paycheck to tax

Add to this, International tourism to the USA is declining even more in 2026 than it did in 2025.

https://www.aol.com/articles/u-falls-last-place-most-160019826.html

U.S. Falls To Last Place With Its Most Disappointing Tourism Record Yet As Competitors Take Over

A few tidbits from the article.

According to recent data from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), in 2025, over 1.5 billion tourists spent a total of $11.7 trillion on tourism activities and services, such as hotels, cruises, and flights, as reported by Reuters.

However, while global tourism spending grew by 6.7%, the United States registered a dramatic decline. A WTTC study published in May 2025 predicted that the U.S. would experience a significant decrease in visitor spending, ranking last among all the analyzed countries.

The estimated loss worsened later in the year, as recent data confirmed that the U.S. welcomed 6% fewer foreign visitors last year than in 2024. Here's a closer look at the figures and the factors that contributed to such a drastic fall in international tourists to the U.S., all while other competing tourist destinations around the world saw a rise in visits.

The U.S. Was Ranked Last Among 184 Countries For 2025 International Visitor Spending

According to a 2025 WTTC projection, the U.S. was set to lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending, going from $181 billion in 2024 to $169 billion in 2025.

The WTTC also reported that the U.S. was the only country expected to experience a decrease in international visitor spending in 2025 among the 184 nations analyzed.

WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson called the data a "wake-up call" for the United States government.

"This is a wake-up call for the U.S. government. The world’s biggest Travel & Tourism economy is heading in the wrong direction, not because of a lack of demand, but because of a failure to act. While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign," Simpson said.