Immigrants power key NWA industries amid policy limbo
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The Northwest Arkansas construction industry has the greatest share of foreign-born noncitizen workers among 12 industries, per census data.
Why it matters: President Trump earlier this summer acknowledged that his massive immigration crackdown is "taking very good, long-time workers away from" the farming and hotel industries, and promised changes.
- Yet there's still no major policy decision from the White House, which must balance economic realities with Republican hardliners' push 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 8.3% of the country's civilian workforce age 16 and older, based on a 2019-2023 average of U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
- In NWA, they account for 28% of construction workers, nearly 20% of manufacturing workers, and 13% of agricultural and mining workers.
Zoom in: "Our company employs a large number of folks that are not U.S.-born, and they're critical for our for operation," Greg Fogle, chief operating officer of Conway-based Nabholz Construction, told Axios. He noted the company goes to great lengths to ensure employees have the credentials to work in the U.S. before they're hired.
- The recent deportation rhetoric in some places means that even people with work visas may choose to stay home, but it hasn't harmed the Nabholz workforce, Fogle said.
The latest: A new agreement between Arkansas State Police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will allow state troopers to perform some immigration officer functions.
Zoom out: Farmers "are getting frustrated with the delays" on a big White House plan for undocumented workers, Politico reports, while some farm workers say they're being "hunted like animals" in immigration raids, per The Guardian. Around 40% of crop farmworkers lack work authorization, per USDA estimates.
- The Trump administration has taken some smaller steps, such as the Labor Department's new "Office of Immigration Policy," aimed at streamlining temporary worker visas.
Yes, but: Some Trump-aligned supporters view any form of capitulation on immigration as a form of amnesty — and a broken promise to conduct mass deportations.
- "MAGA is always on amnesty watch. It will not move forward no matter what name anyone tries to call it. They all have to go home," right-wing podcaster Jack Posobiec told Axios' Tal Axelrod.
What they're saying: "This is not amnesty. It's not amnesty lite," a senior Trump administration official told Axios' Marc Caputo of the visa effort.
- "No one who is illegally here is being given a pathway to citizenship or residency."
The bottom line: Both undocumented workers and the industries relying on them are still primarily in limbo.