Happy Labor Day? 1.2M immigrants are gone from the US labor force under Trump, preliminary data shows

News reports that, while the nation celebrates the Labor Day holiday, data shows that President Donald Trump’s immigration policies are reducing the nation’s labor force.  “More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents.”

The Pew data shows that, “[i]n January 2025, 53.3 million immigrants lived in the United States – the largest number ever recorded. In the ensuing months, however, more immigrants left the country or were deported than arrived. By June, the country’s foreign-born population had shrunk by more than a million people, marking its first decline since the 1960s.”

The new Pew Research Center analysis finds that, as of June 2025:

• 51.9 million immigrants lived in the U.S.
• 15.4% of all U.S. residents were immigrants, down from a recent historic high of 15.8%.
• 19% of the U.S. labor force were immigrants, down from 20% and by over 750,000 workers since January.

KJ