Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Fails to Deliver Jobs for US-Born Workers

A worker repairs a motorcycle inside the service area at a dealership in Oakland, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

One year into President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, there’s little evidence that closed borders are boosting employment for US-born workers.

Net migration into the US may have been negative in 2025 for the first time in at least 50 years, according to estimates from researchers at the center-right American Enterprise Institute and center-left Brookings Institution. That squeeze coincided with a rise in joblessness among the native-born, even as some businesses say it’s becoming more challenging to fill positions.