The Bureau of labor statistics data showed the U.S.-Born Unemployment Rate rose in 2025 after president trump reduced immigration and the foreign-born workforce shrank.
The household survey unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers climbed to 4.7% in July 2025 from 4.3% in January 2025, with later reports noting a further increase from 3.9% a year earlier as foreign-born employment fell.
Official Statements and Messaging
dhs assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin disputed the idea that enforcement was hurting U.S.-born workers, pointing instead to the administration’s stated goal of prioritizing Americans in the labor market.
“The July jobs report shows that as illegal aliens continue to exit the labor force, more Americans are finding steady and gainful employment. President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership is making America both safe and prosperous again,” McLaughlin said in an August 4, 2025 statement.
McLaughlin returned to that theme on November 14, 2025, tying immigration enforcement and visa oversight to job protection. “President Trump and Secretary Noem said we’d secure the border, enforce our laws, reinstate integrity into our immigration system, and protect American jobs and that’s exactly what we’ve done. The era of mass illegal migration, open borders, and visa abuse is over,” she said.
The USCIS linked its policy direction to labor-market outcomes, including by introducing a new payment requirement for H-1B filings. In an official statement dated November 13, 2025 it said:
“Unchecked mass migration floods the American labor market, depressing wages and taking jobs away from hardworking Americans. USCIS is doing its part to protect American workers by implementing the President’s Proclamation. H-1B petitions must be accompanied by an additional $100,000 payment as a condition of eligibility,” the agency said.
How Policy Signals Affect Employers
Public messaging can signal enforcement posture and scrutiny, even as the mechanics differ across proclamations, proposed rules, final rules, policy manual updates, and court-driven changes.
Employers often rely on those signals when deciding whether to file petitions, adjust timing, or prepare for tighter adjudication. That distinction matters because employers and foreign nationals interpret statements differently from formal binding requirements.
Labor Market Data and Interpretation
The labor market figures cited by the administration and its critics come from the BLS household survey, which tracks employment status and allows breakdowns by nativity. Month-to-month changes can be volatile, and the numbers do not on their own establish why unemployment moved.
Those figures do form part of the administration’s case that fewer migrants in the workforce should improve outcomes for people born in the United States, but interpreting the indicators requires care.
Still, the same data show that the U.S.-born labor force participation rate did not rise in a way that would suggest a large influx of U.S.-born workers rushing to fill vacancies left by departing immigrants.
The participation rate for U.S.-born workers aged 16 and older slipped from 61.7% in August 2024 to 61.6% in August 2025.
Between January 2025 and November 2025, the number of foreign-born workers in the U.S. labor force declined by approximately 1.1 million, a drop attributed in the summary to aggressive enforcement, mass deportations, and the elimination of various legal statuses.
A higher unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers can coincide with shrinking labor supply if businesses pull back, reduce hours, or close roles in response to staffing shortages, weaker demand, or other pressures not captured by immigration enforcement alone.
Policy Measures Affecting Work Authorization
The administration’s policy program included several measures that bear directly on work authorization and employer compliance, with H-1B changes among the most consequential for technology and other professional sectors.
USCIS framed the extra H-1B payment as a “condition of eligibility,” describing it as a threshold requirement tied to whether a petition can be accepted and approved, rather than a discretionary add-on.
For employers, that kind of eligibility condition can affect budgeting and filing decisions, especially when petitions must be assembled around narrow hiring timelines. For foreign nationals it can change whether an employer is willing to sponsor at all, particularly for early-career roles or smaller firms.
The summary also described moves affecting humanitarian and work-permit categories that intersect with everyday employment eligibility checks. DHS terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for several countries, including Ethiopia, which was terminated effective January 5, 2026, ending work authorization for thousands under that designation.
Another change affects workers relying on Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) while their renewals are pending. In October 2025, DHS ended the practice of automatically extending EADs for those filing renewals, a shift that can create gaps in work eligibility and complicate I-9 processes for employers.
DHS also launched an initiative through the CBP Home App encouraging undocumented people to leave the country with travel assistance and a $1,000 payment. The summary characterized it as a self-departure incentive that could further reduce the foreign-born workforce, though it did not quantify participation.
Economic and Sectoral Effects
The summary described broad economic effects that economists and analysts have associated with reduced immigrant labor supply, including labor shortages in agriculture, healthcare, and technology.
Those shortages can extend hiring timelines, increase overtime, and force service reductions, especially when roles require physical presence and cannot be shifted to remote work.
Economists cited in the summary pointed to “native-immigrant complementarity”, the idea that immigrant workers often fill roles that support the productivity and employment of U.S.-born workers. When those roles go unfilled, effects can show up in output and job stability for people born in the United States.
The summary also noted longer-run projections that cast the immigration pullback as a macroeconomic risk if it persists. Analyses from the National Foundation for American Policy and the Congressional Budget Office projected the reduction in the workforce could shrink the U.S. economy by nearly one-third by 2035 if the trend continues.
Such projections are scenario-based and depend on assumptions about labor supply, productivity, and whether employers adapt through automation, relocation, or changes in business models. The summary’s central point was that a sustained decline in the workforce can have compounding effects over time.
Businesses facing labor constraints may respond by reducing operating hours, trimming product lines, or moving work to locations where staffing is easier. In some cases, native-born workers did not gain opportunities but instead saw jobs disappear as firms curtailed operations or shut down due to an inability to maintain a full workforce.
Practical Implications for Individuals and Employers
For individuals, the policy direction highlights practical questions about work authorization continuity and timing. Workers in TPS categories must track termination dates and assess whether other immigration options exist.
EAD renewal applicants face the possibility of employment gaps if documents expire before replacements arrive. H-1B workers and employers must evaluate whether the new additional payment requirement alters filing decisions and whether petitions can be prepared with complete documentation to avoid delays.
The summary did not detail processing times or litigation, but it framed the additional H-1B payment as an eligibility condition rather than a voluntary surcharge, which can influence employer willingness to sponsor and budgeting for filings.
Messaging Repeated
The administration repeatedly framed its approach as a shift away from what it calls “visa abuse”, with McLaughlin describing an enforcement-and-integrity agenda that she said protects jobs.
“President Trump and Secretary Noem said we’d secure the border, enforce our laws, reinstate integrity into our immigration system, and protect American jobs and that’s exactly what we’ve done. The era of mass illegal migration, open borders, and visa abuse is over,” she said.
The USCIS statement used similar language arguing immigration levels affect wages and job availability and reiterating the H-1B payment rationale: “Unchecked mass migration floods the American labor market, depressing wages and taking jobs away from hardworking Americans. USCIS is doing its part to protect American workers by implementing the President’s Proclamation. H-1B petitions must be accompanied by an additional $100,000 payment as a condition of eligibility,” it said.
Sources and Where to Verify
Readers seeking to verify announcements and distinguish between messaging and binding requirements can monitor official channels. DHS posts releases in its newsroom at DHS Newsroom, while USCIS publishes immigration policy statements and operational updates at USCIS Newsroom.
For labor market claims tied to nativity, the BLS publishes regular tables that track employment and unemployment by place of birth, including release notes that can affect comparisons. The series cited in the summary is available at Bureau of Labor Statistics nativity data.
Regulatory changes and effective dates are tracked through the government’s rulemaking portal, which can help readers confirm whether a change is proposed or final and what compliance steps are required. Those notices are accessible at the Federal Register.
Employers weighing new filings and renewals can use those sources to track updates, confirm eligibility requirements, and plan staffing around document expiration dates. Workers can use the same channels to monitor changes affecting EAD renewals, TPS continuity, and any new conditions attached to employer petitions.
The article’s closing observation reiterated that the U.S.-Born Unemployment Rate has risen even as Trump reduced immigration and reshaped the size of the foreign-born workforce, leaving complex implications for employers, workers, and the broader economy.
The 2025 labor data reveals that U.S.-born unemployment increased to 4.7% even as the foreign-born population in the workforce declined. The administration introduced high-cost barriers like the $100,000 H-1B fee and terminated TPS for several nations. While officials claim these moves protect American jobs, economists express concern that labor shortages and the loss of complementary worker roles could lead to long-term economic contraction and reduced productivity.
