By Doyinsola Oladipo
NEW YORK () -A U.S. crackdown on foreign-born workers could spell trouble for the hotel and hospitality industry, which has lobbied for years to expand the pathways for immigration to the United States to help fill over 1 million job vacancies.
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he plans to release new immigration directives shortly. This announcement came after a social media message where he highlighted employment challenges faced by farmers and hotel owners due to his stringent immigration measures. However, the Washington Post stated on Friday that no modifications to these policies were currently being considered, as confirmed by three individuals familiar with the administration’s stance on immigration matters.
IMMIGRATION AND HOSPITALITY
In 2024, travel supported the employment of 15 million U.S. workers, including direct employment for around 8 million individuals, with roughly one-third being immigrants, as reported by the U.S. Travel Association and American Hotel and Lodging Association. The industry anticipates approximately 1 million open positions in 2025.
Hotels and resorts have struggled to find enough Americans willing to work hospitality jobs, including seasonal or temporary jobs at ski resorts and amusement parks. The leisure and hospitality industries have quit rates higher than all other industries. The accommodation and food services subsector has experienced a quit rate consistently around or above 4% since July 2022, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
According to a 2024 survey by AHLA and Hireology, an employee management platform, approximately 71% of hotels with open positions couldn’t recruit staff even though they were actively looking.
LOBBYING EFFORTS
The U.S. Travel Association and AHLA have advocated for Congress to expand opportunities for legal immigration with the aim of addressing these shortages.
The industry’s priority was to push for expanding the H-2B visa program, which was capped at 66,000 visas a year, to bring more seasonal workers to the United States.
In March 2024, President Joe Biden signed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act. This legislation permits the Department of Homeland Security to boost the number of H-2B temporary non-agricultural workers. The department can do this if they find that there aren’t sufficient U.S.-based workers who are “available, competent, and ready” for such short-term work.
In December, DHS along with the Department of Labor released a shared temporary final regulation that raised the cap on H-2B non-immigrant visas for fiscal year 2025.
The industry also supported legislation that looked to make it easier for temporary workers to return to the U.S. and allow people seeking asylum to work as soon as 30 days after applying for asylum.
EXECUTIVE AND UNION VIEWS
Leaders from companies like Marriott and Hilton have discussed the necessity of realistic immigration reforms for many years.
“One of the key concerns in our sector for both the present and the future has been staffing…and the necessity for thorough immigration reform,” stated Chris Nassetta, CEO of Hilton Worldwide, during the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in January, as reported by Travel Weekly.
The labor union Unite HERE, representing numerous employees in American hotels, casinos, and airports—most of whom are immigrants—stated that they will keep battling against the “increasingly capricious regulations” concerning who has permission to reside in and visit the United States.
The Culinary Workers Union, representing hospitality employees in Las Vegas, staged protests against increasing ICE raids in Nevada. They also contested the assertions made by the Trump administration that their actions were solely aimed at addressing individuals who violated the law.
(Reported by Doyinsola Oladipo from New York; additional reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; edited by Rod Nickel)
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