Portland industries rely heavily on foreign-born workers
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Foreign-born noncitizens fill critical jobs in Portland's agriculture, construction and manufacturing 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 7.2% of Portland's civilian workforce age 16 and older, based on a 2019-2023 average of U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
- They account for nearly a quarter of agriculture/mining workers; almost 12% of construction workers; and 11.4% of those in manufacturing.
Zoom in: Last week, federal immigration agents detained four Guatemalan workers on their way to a blueberry farm in Canby, OPB reported.
- The incident, which included the arrest of one person who is seeking asylum, appeared to be the largest action to date in Oregon.
- It comes as arrests of immigrants without criminal charges or convictions have surged in the Pacific Northwest and around the country.
The latest: 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.
The bottom line: Undocumented workers and the industries relying on them are still largely in limbo.