Which Seattle-area industries rely most on noncitizen workers
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Foreign-born noncitizens make up more than 12% of the Seattle-area's workforce, and an even higher share of the region's tech and agricultural employees, census data shows.
Why it matters: The numbers highlight which local industries could be most affected by the Trump administration's mass deportation push — particularly as federal officials roll back programs that have allowed some noncitizens to work in the U.S. legally.
By the numbers: In the Seattle metro area, foreign-born noncitizens — including legal permanent residents and those on work visas — account for 12.7% of the civilian workforce age 16 and older, based on a 2019–2023 average of U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
- That's well above the U.S. average of 8.3%, meaning the Seattle area relies on noncitizen workers more than the nation as a whole.
Zoom in: Among local industries, the Seattle-area information sector has the highest concentration of foreign-born noncitizen workers, at more than 21% of its workforce.
- In the Seattle metro, these workers also make up 20.7% of employees in agriculture and mining; 19.6% in professional services; 16.9% in construction; and 14.3% in accommodations, food service and recreation.
What they're saying: "Immigrants are our neighbors and they are integral to the social and cultural fabric of Seattle and Washington state," Catalina Velasquez, executive director of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, wrote in an emailed statement to Axios.
- Malou Chávez, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, told Axios that because of shifting federal policies, many immigrants in the U.S. will soon lose their ability to work legally. That will affect not only those individuals and their families, but also local economies, per Chávez.
- "This is not how it should be. People have already been given the authorization to work, and now they are being taken away from their communities," Chávez said.
State of play: Some of the Trump administration's recent policy changes have included the termination of a Biden-era humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, and a push to end Temporary Protected Status for migrants from certain countries.
- Those are distinct from the administration's efforts to target and deport undocumented immigrants.
- In June, Trump acknowledged his crackdown was hitting farm and hospitality workers especially hard and vowed to make changes — but so far, no major policy decision has been announced, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj write.
What we're watching: 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 Trump administration has taken some smaller steps, such as the Labor Department's new "Office of Immigration Policy," meant to streamline some temporary worker visas.