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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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Business leaders and Hispanic advocacy groups are urging policy changes to allow long-term, tax-paying immigrant workers to obtain legal work permits, citing concerns over labor shortages.
The push comes as employers report difficulty filling critical roles across industries such as construction, hospitality, agriculture and health care.
President Donald Trump and his administration are increasing efforts to carry out widespread immigration arrests and removals as part of the GOP's aggressive mass deportation agenda. The policy has raised concerns about its potential ripple effects on the economy, including its impact on the workforce and the risk of exacerbating labor shortages in certain industries with a high number of immigrant workers. One tool employers currently use to fill seasonal or short-term nonagricultural positions is the H-2B visa, a temporary, non-immigrant program frequently utilized by the hospitality and tourism sectors when there are not enough American workers available.
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Massey Villarreal, Co-Chair of Comité de 100, a bipartisan coalition of prominent Mexican American and Latino business leaders, emphasized the economic importance of immigrant workers.
"We are calling for a common-sense work permit program that recognizes the essential contributions of long-term, tax-paying, law-abiding immigrant workers—especially those who have become indispensable to our economy and communities," Villarreal told Newsweek.
"Latinos are central to our nation's future, and this contribution must be met with policies that allow hardworking immigrants to participate fully and openly in our workforce."
Villarreal added that supporting legal work permits is a bipartisan issue.
He said: "We support bipartisan solutions that would provide legal work permits to these essential workers. We want to see a policy that allows long-term immigrants who have demonstrated their commitment to our country to work without fear. This is about moving beyond short-term fixes and toward policies that reflect the reality of our economy."
The American Immigration Council projects that the president's mass deportation policy could carry a one-time cost of $315 billion. Furthermore, deporting one million individuals each year could lead to annual expenses reaching up to $88 billion.
These national figures highlight the tangible effects that immigration policies can have on local communities.
About 23% of Berks County, Pennsylvania, residents identify as Hispanic, making it one of the counties in the state with the highest proportion of Hispanic residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 data.
In the county, local business leaders stressed the economic impact of immigration enforcement actions.
"Right now, labor shortages are one of the biggest challenges facing our local employers. Giving long-term immigrants the ability to work legally isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s essential for our economy," Isamac Torres-Figueroa, Chairwoman of the Berks County Hispanic Chamber, told Newsweek. "It helps fill critical jobs, especially in industries that struggle to recruit and retain workers. When businesses have the people they need, they can grow, prices stay more stable, and everyone benefits."
Torres-Figueroa also highlighted concerns she holds over the impact that immigration raids have on communities and businesses.
"When essential workers are detained, businesses face sudden labor shortages. The fear and anxiety these raids create ripple through our community: children miss school, parents are afraid to seek medical care, and trust in local institutions erodes," she said.
The conversation around work permits also intersects with political considerations. Villarreal pointed to growing Hispanic voter influence and support for President Trump’s proposal to allow law-abiding immigrant workers to obtain legal work status. Trump received approximately 45% of the Latino vote nationwide in the 2024 election, up from 36% in 2020, according to exit polls.
In July, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Trump said that his administration was pursuing legislation to allow undocumented workers in sectors such as agriculture and hospitality to remain in the country, a proposal that some MAGA supporters criticized as "amnesty."
"We're working on legislation right now where – farmers, look, they know better. They work with them for years. You had cases where...people have worked for a farm, on a farm for 14, 15 years and they get thrown out pretty viciously and we can't do it. We gotta work with the farmers, and people that have hotels and leisure properties too," Trump said, although no official program or policy update has been announced.
“This growing political and economic power sends a clear message to Congress and the administration: Hispanic voters are a decisive force, and our priorities can no longer be ignored," Villarreal said.
"Most voters, including 84 percent of Hispanic voters and 78 percent of Republicans, support President Trump’s call to allow long-term, trusted undocumented workers in essential jobs to earn legal work permits,” he added.
Hispanic-owned businesses face urgent challenges in securing sufficient labor, Villarreal noted: "Across the country, our members report that finding and retaining workers is increasingly difficult—especially in industries like construction, hospitality, agriculture, and health care. The shortage of reliable labor is holding back business expansion, raising costs, and, in some cases, forcing owners to scale back operations or delay new projects."
Lydia Aranda, Board Chair, Minority and Small Business Alliance of Southern Arizona, reiterated calls among business leaders who want bipartisan solutions to secure America’s workforce.
She said: "Our immigration system remains outdated and unable to meet the economic demands of our workforce and industries. That’s why we support common-sense solutions that combine border enforcement with vital work permits for immigrant workers who are already contributing to communities across our great nation.
"This ensures job protection for American workers while allowing businesses—large and small—to access the workforce they need to grow and compete.
"We also advocate for modernizing visa programs, streamlining processes for essential workers, and providing permanent status for DACA recipients. These bipartisan solutions are grounded in data and economic reality: immigrants are job creators, innovators, and consumers who strengthen our economy and workforce for all."
Business leaders say that such measures could help stabilize local economies, increase tax revenues and sustain workforce participation in critical industries.
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