Foreign-born workers are finding it tough to hang on to their jobs in the US. The Trump administration’s immigration policies are causing significant employment challenges for foreign-born workers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics household survey shows a decline of 1.1 million foreign-born workers since the start of the Trump administration in January 2025. From the peak of March 2025, there was a sharp drop of 1.5 million in the number of foreign workers, according to a National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis of government data.
Given current and projected Trump administration immigration policies, it is likely that a decline in the foreign-born labor force will continue in the second half of 2025 through 2026, says the report.
For comparison, from 2014 to 2024, the average annual growth in the foreign-born labor force was 6,52,000 a year.
The unemployment rate for the foreign-born in the United States was 4.2 percent in 2024, up from 3.6 percent in 2023. The jobless rate of the native born was 4.0 percent in 2024, up from 3.6 percent in 2023.
H-1B Visa Layoffs
H-1B visa holders are foreign-born hired by US firms. There is a 60-day grace period rule under the H-1B visa program but not related to the overstay period. According to the rules, if a nonimmigrant worker’s employment ends, either voluntarily or involuntarily, they and their dependents need to depart the United States within 60 days, or when their authorized validity period ends, whichever is shorter.
Foreign-Born Workers
The number of foreign-born workers in the U.S. labor force rose by 173,000 from the July to August report, which may represent a statistical fluctuation in the monthly data rather than a reversal of the overall trend.
NFAP reports point out that the decline in the foreign-born portion of the labor force is due to policies on deportation and actions that remove previously authorized workers from the lawful workforce, such as ending humanitarian parole programs and Temporary Protected Status, as well as policies on legal immigration, including the blocking of up to 1,25,000 new refugee admissions.
US Job Market
The US job market is showing significant weakness, with a prolonged employment downturn posing a risk to the economy and potentially leading to a recession. U.S. job growth significantly slowed in August, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.3%, a nearly four-year high.
In August, employers eliminated 12,000 manufacturing jobs, contributing to a total sector-wide payroll reduction of 42,000 positions since April, according to a Center for American Progress analysis of government labor data.
In 2025, the tech industry is continuing its trend of substantial layoffs. The previous year saw over 150,000 job cuts across 549 companies, and early 2025 has already witnessed more than 22,000 affected workers, with February alone recording 16,084 reductions.
Job openings are also slowing down in the US. In July, job openings were approximately 7.18 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, marking the second occurrence below the 7.2 million threshold since late 2020.
New job creation is at alarmingly low levels. Preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that annual revisions to nonfarm payrolls data for the year preceding March 2025 resulted in a downward adjustment of 911,000 from initial estimates, or nearly 1 million positions that never existed in the job market.