Indy's industries that are most reliant on foreign-born workers
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Foreign-born noncitizens fill critical jobs in Indianapolis' construction, agriculture and transportation sectors, per new census data.
Why it matters: President Trump acknowledged this summer that his immigration crackdown is pulling long-term laborers from these industries — and promised to address it.
- Yet there's still no major policy decision from the White House, which must balance economic realities with MAGA demands to deport as many people as possible.
By the numbers: Foreign-born noncitizens — including those who are legal residents or have work visas — make up 6.1% of Indy's civilian workforce age 16 and older, based on a 2019-2023 average of U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
- They account for 13% of construction workers, 9.2% of agriculture/mining workers and 9% of those in transportation/utilities.
Zoom in: Immigrants are driving population growth in the city.
- The Indianapolis metro area gained over 85,000 people from April 1, 2020, to July 1, 2024.
- Of those, nearly 43,000 came from international migration.
- The natural change — births minus deaths during that time — was under 27,000, and domestic migration was almost 16,000.
Yes, but: Crackdowns in Indiana have caused the number of people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement without criminal charges or convictions to surge this summer.
- 23% of the 309 people ICE arrested in Indiana in June had no criminal charge, up from 6% in January.
- The number of total arrests from January to June has grown by 127%.
The bottom line: Undocumented workers and the industries relying on them are still largely in limbo.
Go deeper: Braun on ICE arrests: "That should raise eyebrows"