6 events in Passaic County with a date

Workforce reduction

ICE raids put NJ industries that rely on immigrants in a bind

By: Daniel Munoz
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... The story in Dover has been the same for months now.
..... Federal immigration authorities show up for an enforcement raid - or even just a rumor of their presence spreads - and ten immigrants in town disappear and lie low, said Estela Roibal, owner of Enrique's Printing.
..... Immigrate residents are reluctant to come to work and fill positions in industries that have traditionally relied on them, such as summer landscaping, said Roibal, who herself came to the United states from Uruguay with her husband and shop cr.-owmer in 1994.
...... "It's hard for them to get people, she said of employers.
...... All across New Jersey this summer, [2025] that have that has been the case.
..... The raids that have steadily increased during President Donald Trump's first six months in office are having a far-reaching impact on local businesses, as works are deported or lose their protected status, or simply stop showing up for work out of fear.
..... With nearly half a million undocumented immigrants in New Jersey trisect poses a problem for industries that rely on undocumented workers, from child care, cleaning services and construction to landscaping, agriculture and the hospitality industry.
...... In July, [2025] Immigration and Customs Enforcement,, or ICE, raided Alba Wine and Spirits Warehousing and Distribution in Edison, arresting 20 individuals and drawing protests form immigrants rights activists. Another 15 people were detained by mitigation authorities in Princeton last month. [07/2025]
..... There were nearly 57,000 immigrates held in detention by ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection as of July 13, [2025] compared with 39,000 people in detention as of January 26, [2025] according to the Transactional Records Clearinghouse, or TRAC, an Online tracker run by the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in New York.
..... The last time detentions were this high was during Trump's first term, in August 2019, TRAC data shows, when more than55,000 people were in ICE or CBP detention. The number then dropped over the next few years until gradually rising in 2024 under President Joe Biden.
..... Trump has promised to carry out "mass deportations" of the estimated 11 million individuals, in the U.S. illegally. His supporters held up signs at the Republican National Convention last summer [2024] that read "Mass Deportation Now!"
..... Heightening uncertainty for immigrants, Trump earlier this summer [2025] touted "Alligator Alcatraz" in Florida, a migrant detention facility hailed by Republicans but panned by immigrants rights activists.
..... And since taking office, Trump has attempted to change the nation;s 157-year-old birthright citizenship laws, which grants U.S. citizenship to anyone born on American soil. That matter has been held up in court for months.
..... Some media outlets, including Axios and NPR, have reported growing concern that immigration authorities are really profiling Hispanics, something the Department of Homeland Security - which oversees ICE and CBP - has strongly denied.

Trump immigration raids have 'chilling effect' on NJ communities

..... About 29% of New Jersey's workers are foreign-born and 45% small businesses are run by immigrants, both documented and undocumented. In total, immigrants generate $194 billion in economic output in the state.
..... The American Immigration Council estimates there are 475,000 undocumented immigrants residing in New Jersey. If the Trump administration were to deport 4 million people over a four-year period, New Jersey's workforce could shrink by 234,000 - including 67,000 people in constructions - said a July [2025] report by the economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.
..... Many employers and workers did not respond to request for comment for this story.
..... "It means they're concerned it triggers some kind of ICE raid or knocking on their door," said Snehal Batra, an immigration attorney with the raritan-based law firm NPZ Law Group.
..... Batra also sits on the board of trustees of the New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition, which according to its website is dedicated to encouraging workforce participation among the state's immigrants.
..... Two former workers at Newark Liberty International Airport - one Haitian and one Venezuelan - said in statements that they effectively became undocumented immigrants and lost their jobs with a cleaning company for United Airlines after Trump canceled protected status for immigrants form those countries. Both asked not to be identified for this story.
..... Similar stories have played out among cleaning staff with protected status at universities and K-12 schools, train stations, arenas such as Prudential Centre and Sports Illustrated Stadium, and pharmaceutical campuses, said Ana Maria Hill, who heads the labor union 32BJ Service Employees International Union.
..... Their protected status is canceled, and so is their ability to work, she said.
..... Sara Cullinane, director of Make the Road NJ, an immigrants rights group, told NorthJersey.com in February [2025] that the organization had been fielding tons of calls from concerned community members about whether they should show up for work.
..... It's having a huge impact. We're received hundreds of calls, hundreds of message on social media, hundreds of emails, to see if they should send their kids to school, people saying they turned back going to work that day because they were worried about a raid," Cullinane said.
..... "The chilling effect has been massive, and I think it's a real problem in a state like New Jersey," she said.

What kinds of jobs are NJ immigrants doing?

..... The jobs being done by undocumented immigrants are "labor-intensive" but lack official qualifications, licenses or certifications, said Arturo Osorio, a professor at the Rutgers Business School in Newark.
..... In agriculture, it spans digging, picking fruits and vegetables, seed-planting and grounds-keeping. in construction, it entails framing, bricklaying and some basic electrical work. For child care, it would be a nanny at home.
..... Without that workforce, during seeding season, agricultural businesses may not be able to put enough plants in the ground. In the middle of the season, they may not be able to trim and maintain the plants, said Osorio, who also sits on the board of directors of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.
..... "At the end of the season, fruits might get rotten in the field because nobody can pick them," Osorio continued.
...... New Jersey's sprawling blueberry farms, for example, are particularly dependent on immigrant labor, said Ramya Vijaya, who chairs the economics department at Stockton University, near Atlantic City.
..... The Trump administration has gone back and forth on whether it would conduct enforcement raids of workplaces in the farming, restaurant and hotel industries.
..... In June, [2025] the administration vowed to protect migrants in these industries, with Trump saying on June 12 [2025] that businesses have complained about ensuring workers shortages.
..... But a week later, his administration said there would be no carve-outs for certain industries.
..... "The president has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe space for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE's efforts," Trcia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement last month [07/2025] to USA Today.
..... The results has been labor abuses of immigrate workers, various media outlets have said.
..... For example, construction contractors across the U.S. have cut pay and increased hours for undocumented workers, The Guardian reported.

What kids of undocumented immigrants are in the U.S.?

..... There are five kinds of undocumented immigrants who live in the United States, said the immigrants rights organization Immigrants Rising:
*Enter without inspection: Those who entered the U.S. without presenting themselves to immigration authorities, such as crossing the border without an inspection.
* Entered with legal status but overstayed visa: Those who entered legally on a visa, such as a student visa, but stayed beyond the visa's expiration date.
* Currently or formerly with Refereed Action for Childhood arrivals: Those granted a temporary stay of their deportation through the federal Deferred Aston for Childhood Arrivals, meaning they arrived in the U.S. unlawfully as children.
* In the precess of legalization: Anyone pursuing a legalization route, such as asylum, U.S. citizen Spouse Petition or U visa.
* Vulnerable immigrations: Those whose mitigation status changes because their Temporary Protected status may have been terminated, such as when Trump ended TPS for Haitians.

NJ employers, trade groups on alert

..... Daniel Klim, who heads the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association, said the organization cerated a resource page related to mitigation.
..... And the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association held a membership meeting last month [07/2025] to talk about immigrations, ICE raids and I-9 audits, said executive director Gail Woolcott. I-9 audits are conducted by immigration authorities to make sure a business is complying with mitigation laws related to employment.
..... "A lot of these professional organizations and trade unions and groups, they're pushing for programs to make suer that their members understand the requirements," said Batra, the Raritan-based immigration attorney.

..... This article contains materials from USA Today.

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