FBI Warns of Criminals Posing as ICE, Urges Agents to ID Themselves

Criminals posing as US immigration officers have carried out robberies, kidnappings, and sexual assaults in several states, warns a law enforcement bulletin issued last month by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The bureau urges agencies to ensure officers clearly identify themselves and to cooperate when civilians ask to verify an officer’s identity—including by allowing calls to a local police precinct. “Ensure law enforcement personnel adequality [sic] identify themselves during operations and cooperate with individuals who request further verification,” it says. WIRED has made this article free for all to read because it is primarily based on reporting from Freedom of Information Act requests. Please consider subscribing to support our journalism. First reported by WIRED, the bulletin cites five 2025 incidents involving fake immigration officers and says criminals are using Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s heightened profile to target vulnerable communities, making it harder for Americans to distinguish between lawful officers and imposters while eroding trust in law enforcement. A review of public reporting confirms four of the five cases described in the bulletin. One appears to have gone unreported, suggesting the FBI drew in part on internal law enforcement information. The document was first obtained by the transparency nonprofit Property of the People. Don't just keep up. Get ahead—with our biggest stories, handpicked for you each day. Sign up By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and acknowledge our privacy policy. On August 7, according to the FBI, three men in black vests entered a New York restaurant claiming to be ICE agents. Inside, they tied a worker’s hands and pulled a garbage bag over the person’s head. Another, believing the burglars’ story, surrendered themselves, only to be kicked to the ground and tied up as the intruders robbed an ATM. Featured Video How ICE's Explosive Growth Threatens Every American The bureau’s advisory urges agencies at every level of government to coordinate to “verify legitimate versus non-legitimate operations” attributed to ICE—a call that frames the wave of impersonations as a national law-enforcement concern. The FBI declined to comment. Its national press office said that it could only respond to media inquiries involving national security, violations of federal law, or essential public safety functions during the government shutdown. Cases cited by its advisory span kidnappings, street crime, and sexual violence: In Bay County, Florida, the advisory says, a woman “unzipped [her] jacket and revealed a shirt that said ICE” and told her ex-boyfriend’s wife she was there to “pick her up,” before driving her to an apartment complex. The woman later escaped. In Brooklyn, it alleges, a man told a woman he was an immigration officer and “directed [her] to a nearby stairwell,” where he punched her, tried to rape her, and stole her phone before police caught him. In Raleigh, North Carolina, it claims, a man “entered [a] motel room and threatened to deport the woman if she did not have sex with him,” telling her he was a sworn officer. He showed her a business card with a badge, police said. The FBI describes a few signs of impersonation: forged or mismatched credentials, outdated protective gear, and cloned vehicle markings. It’s urging agencies to launch outreach programs aimed at identifying fake ICE agents, a step the FBI argues could counteract the mistrust caused by impersonators and strengthen law enforcement’s image. For more informatoin, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Latino voter shifts in Tuesday's elections alarm some Republicans

Republicans have spent a year cheering President Donald Trump’s gains among Latino voters in November 2024. Now, Democrats’ big wins among Latino voters this week have some Republicans sounding the alarm. “This is a wake-up call for the GOP,” Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., told NBC News. Democrats’ double-digit victories in governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia, as well as wins in other elections in New York City and California, were driven in part by high levels of support among Latino voters. Latino voters supported the Democratic candidates this year by at least double-digit margins, according to NBC News exit polling. Latino men, who broke for Trump last year, according to the 2024 exit polls, favored the Democrats in each of the races where exit polling was conducted on Tuesday. In the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial contests, two-thirds of Latino voters supported the Democratic candidates. That support was especially pronounced in New Jersey, where Latino voters made up 10 percent of the electorate. Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill won big in areas of the state with sizable Latino populations, as she beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli by 13 points and reversed some of Trump’s gains in New Jersey. For example, Sherrill carried Passaic County — which is about 45% Latino, according to census data — by 15 points on Tuesday, following Trump’s 3-point victory there last year. Some Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dismissed concerns about Latino voters’ shifts when pressed by NBC News. “I do believe that the demographic shift that we were able to see and experience in the 2024 election will hold,” Johnson told reporters. But other Republicans say their party should pay attention to Latino voters’ shift toward Democrats on Tuesday, as the Trump administration ramps up immigrant detentions and deportations. When asked how Trump’s immigration agenda is playing in Latino communities, Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told NBC News, “I’d be less than honest if I told you, ‘No, everything’s great.’” “There are some things that we need to change and have a course correction with in regards to immigration,” Gimenez added. “Everybody’s in favor of gang members, criminals, et cetera, being deported and all that. Not too many people are in favor of grandmothers and caregivers and all that you know falling under the same umbrella. That’s the course correction.” Another House Republican from Texas, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the election results, said the GOP needs to do a better job keeping Latino voters inside their tent — especially without Trump on the ballot in next year’s midterms. “Clearly it’s an issue, and a big one,” the member said. Jose Arango, the GOP chairman in Hudson County, New Jersey, which is 41% Latino, said, “People send you a message and elected officials should learn.” Sherrill won Hudson County by 50 points, almost doubling then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ margin of victory there last year. Recommended Analysis Steve Kornacki: Two warnings for Republicans in the New Jersey governor results Latino voters are “not satisfied with the government closing. They’re not satisfied that New Jersey’s not affordable and the [Sherrill] campaign has blamed the White House. And they’re not satisfied with the issues of ICE,” Arango said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Arango noted that ICE detained a popular restaurant owner in Monmouth County just a few days before the election. Salazar told NBC News, “We need economy, we need border security, but we have an issue with immigration,” touting her proposal to provide legal status for certain undocumented workers. “We do not want the illegals who are criminals, but we do want to give dignity to those who are not criminals," Salazar said. "And they have been among us for years and decades, and they have been contributing to the economy." It appears voters on Tuesday were concerned about Trump’s actions on immigration enforcement, with majorities of Latinos in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City saying the administration has gone too far, according to exit polling. Amanda, a Latina resident of Morris County, New Jersey, was one of them. She voted for Trump last year but decided to back Sherrill on Tuesday. “I don’t like that we’re deporting American citizens that are not criminals,” said Amanda, who declined to share her last name while discussing politics. She spoke to NBC News outside a Colombian bakery in Dover, a predominantly Hispanic community, and said she quickly regretted her vote for Trump because of his immigration policies. Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg, who conducted polling for the pro-Sherrill super PAC One Giant Leap, noted that deportations and masked ICE agents came up in focus groups with Latino voters. “This is the beginning of the reckoning around mass deportation,” Greenberg said. While Latino voters said the Trump administration’s actions had gone too far, the economy remained the top issue. Pluralities of Latino voters in every state where exit polling was conducted said the economy or cost of living was the issue that mattered most to their vote. When it comes to their family finances, majorities also said they are holding steady or falling behind financially, with about a third consistently reporting they’re falling behind. In exit polls, at least 6-in-10 Latino voters said they feel dissatisfied or angry about the direction of the country, and at least 4-in-10 said their vote was to oppose Trump. “Latinos who voted for him had buyers’ remorse for Trump,” said Patricia Campos-Media, a Sherill campaign vice chair and longtime activist in New Jersey, noting Trump promised to boost the economy and deport criminals. Campos-Medina credited Sherrill’s victory among Latino voters to a message focused on “bread and butter” economic issues, and with sizable investments in Latino voter outreach and organizing. Chuck Rocha, a Democratic strategist who worked on the New Jersey Democratic Party’s canvassing effort, said the door-knocking program reached hundreds of thousands of Latino voters. “What we kept hearing at the door was an ongoing anxiety around affordability,” Rocha said, noting voters raised concerns about the cost of utilities, groceries, housing and insurance. Rocha noted that voters did express concerns about ICE, but the top concerns were economic ones. “There’s a group of Latinos who gave Republicans a shot in the presidential [election],” Rocha said, later adding, “It hasn’t gotten any better under Trump and in fact got worse.” For more informaton, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Immigrants with health conditions may be denied visas under new Trump administration guidance

Foreigners seeking visas to live in the U.S. might be rejected if they have certain medical conditions, including diabetes or obesity, under a Thursday directive from the Trump administration. The guidance, issued in a cable the State Department sent to embassy and consular officials and examined by KFF Health News, directs visa officers to deem applicants ineligible to enter the U.S. for several new reasons, including age or the likelihood they might rely on public benefits. The guidance says that such people could become a "public charge" — a potential drain on U.S. resources — because of their health issues or age. While assessing the health of potential immigrants has been part of the visa application process for years, including screening for communicable diseases like tuberculosis and obtaining vaccine history, experts said the new guidelines greatly expand the list of medical conditions to be considered and give visa officers more power to make decisions about immigration based on an applicant's health status. The directive is part of the Trump administration's divisive and aggressive campaign to deport immigrants living without authorization in the U.S. and dissuade others from immigrating into the country. The White House's crusade to push out immigrants has included daily mass arrests, bans on refugees from certain countries, and plans to severely restrict the total number permitted into the U.S. The new guidelines mandate that immigrants' health be a focus in the application process. The guidance applies to nearly all visa applicants but is likely to be used only in cases in which people seek to permanently reside in the U.S., said Charles Wheeler, a senior attorney for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, a nonprofit legal aid group. The video player is currently playing an ad. "You must consider an applicant's health," the cable reads. "Certain medical conditions — including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions — can require hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of care." About 10% of the world's population has diabetes. Cardiovascular diseases are also common; they are the globe's leading killer. The cable also encourages visa officers to consider other conditions, like obesity, which it notes can cause asthma, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure, in their assessment of whether an immigrant could become a public charge and therefore should be denied entry into the U.S. "All of these can require expensive, long-term care," the cable reads. Spokespeople for the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the cable. Visa officers were also directed to determine if applicants have the means to pay for medical treatment without help from the U.S. government. "Does the applicant have adequate financial resources to cover the costs of such care over his entire expected lifespan without seeking public cash assistance or long-term institutionalization at government expense?" the cable reads. The cable's language appears at odds with the Foreign Affairs Manual, the State Department's own handbook, which says that visa officers cannot reject an application based on "what if" scenarios, Wheeler said. The guidance directs visa officers to develop "their own thoughts about what could lead to some sort of medical emergency or sort of medical costs in the future," he said. "That's troubling because they're not medically trained, they have no experience in this area, and they shouldn't be making projections based on their own personal knowledge or bias." The guidance also directs visa officers to consider the health of family members, including children or older parents. "Do any of the dependents have disabilities, chronic medical conditions, or other special needs and require care such that the applicant cannot maintain employment?" the cable asks. Immigrants already undergo a medical exam by a physician who's been approved by a U.S. embassy. They are screened for communicable diseases, like tuberculosis, and asked to fill out a form that asks them to disclose any history of drug or alcohol use, mental health conditions, or violence. They're also required to have a number of vaccinations to guard against infectious diseases like measles, polio, and hepatitis B. But the new guidance goes further, emphasizing that chronic diseases should be considered, said Sophia Genovese, an immigration lawyer at Georgetown University. She also noted that the language of the directive encourages visa officers and the doctors who examine people seeking to immigrate to speculate on the cost of applicants' medical care and their ability to get employment in the U.S., considering their medical history. "Taking into consideration one's diabetic history or heart health history — that's quite expansive," Genovese said. "There is a degree of this assessment already, just not quite expansive as opining over, 'What if someone goes into diabetic shock?' If this change is going to happen immediately, that's obviously going to cause a myriad of issues when people are going into their consular interviews." For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

ICE to open call center to help track migrant children for removal

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to establish a "National Call Center" in Nashville, Tennessee, to help law enforcement track unaccompanied migrant children for potential removal, according to an agency contracting document. In the notice posted to a government contracting website on Tuesday, ICE officials said there is an "immediate need" to establish the call center, which is expected to receive and process "6,000 to 7,000 calls per day" regarding the locations of minors. DHS offering $2,500 stipend to unaccompanied migrant children to self deport The call center could be fully operational by June 2026, ICE said. The move comes amid the Trump administration's effort to target unaccompanied migrant children as part of its broader immigration crackdown. Immigrant advocates are pushing back on the plan to establish the call center. "There are a host of federal laws and programs that purport to protect unaccompanied children, which this administration has been actively attempting to dismantle," said Michael Lukens, the executive director for the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, a group that represents unaccompanied migrant children. "The center will not protect children. It will only serve to make it easier to deport them," Lukens said. Migrants and their children wait in line to enter a courtroom and attend their scheduled hearings at U.S. immigration court in in New York, Oct. 7, 2025. David Dee Delgado/Reuters Last month, the Department of Homeland Security sent a notice to legal service providers saying it is offering unaccompanied migrant children a "one-time resettlement" stipend of $2,500 to voluntarily depart the U.S. Earlier this year, Immigration and Customs and Enforcement directed agents to track down unaccompanied migrant children in the United States. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

ICE is sending a chill through the construction industry

As cars and trucks zoom by, Rurick Palomino points to the underside of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge that spans the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., where his crew of about 30 workers is doing demolition work and pouring concrete as part of a $128 million federally-funded refurbishment. A Peruvian immigrant who came to the United States 25 years ago, Palomino — a U.S. citizen — built his construction firm from scratch after earning an engineering degree and learning the trade firsthand. He once employed 45 workers but has since scaled back. "There's plenty of work — a lot of mega-projects coming — but I'm afraid to take more because I don't have the manpower," he says. Rurick Palomino stands beside the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge in Washington, D.C., where his crew of 30 workers is doing demolition and repair. Rurick Palomino stands beside the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge in Washington, D.C., where his crew of 30 workers is doing demolition and repair. Scott Neuman/NPR For years, the construction industry — in which on average one in three workers is foreign-born — has struggled with a yawning labor shortage that President Trump's immigration crackdown is making worse, industry officials warn. In D.C., for example, that has meant Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) checkpoints that have swept up Latino workers on their way to and from work. Sponsor Message "I personally saw a checkpoint here on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway," Palomino says. "All construction pickups. So, it's happening." "People are scared," he continues. As ICE agents fan out to detain and deport undocumented immigrants, their enforcement actions are creating unease among both undocumented and documented workers on building sites across the U.S., deepening the already severe labor shortage, slowing the pace of construction and driving up costs, industry officials and contractors say. Congress is investigating cases of U.S. citizens detained in immigration raids Consider This from NPR Congress is investigating cases of U.S. citizens detained in immigration raids From the first day of his second term, Trump began issuing executive orders and proclamations aimed at reversing the flow of migrants at the southern border — apprehending and deporting undocumented individuals and seeking to end birthright citizenship. In September, the Department of Homeland Security said that ICE had deported 400,000 people since the start of Trump's second term and that an estimated 1.6 million had self-deported. Day laborers — many of whom are undocumented — often gather in Home Depot parking lots and in August, federal agents carried out raids near the construction supply stores in the Los Angeles area. In one instance, a Guatemalan migrant fled across a freeway where he was struck by a vehicle and killed. The Department of Homeland Security says ICE arrested more than 100 people in June at a construction site in Tallahassee, Fla. In October, four construction workers were arrested during a similar raid in St. Paul, Minn. People detained by federal agents walk into a suburban Chicago ICE detention center in Broadview, Ill., on Sept. 19. Immigration It's the deadliest year for people in ICE custody in decades; next year could be worse A survey by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) conducted over the summer found that 92% of construction firms struggle to fill positions. In the past six months, 28% of the surveyed firms said they were affected by immigration actions — 5% said ICE agents had visited a jobsite, 10% said they had lost workers due to actual or rumored ICE raids, and 20% reported those concerns caused subcontractors to lose staff. "Firms say it's extremely disruptive when workers fail to show up or leave in the middle of a task," says Ken Simonson, chief economist at AGC — the construction industry's largest and oldest trade association. It means jobs are completed more slowly, driving up costs for the owner and contractor, he says. "A building project is step by step. So it's fine if you get the foundation poured and the beams up to hold up the building. But if you can't put on the roof, you're not going to be able to finish things off," he says. Sponsor Message Simonson says he is concerned that if the enforcement actions are stepped up, "this is just the cusp of what we'll be seeing." NPR reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, but received no reply to specific questions about how raids are affecting the construction industry. However, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an emailed statement: "There is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force, and President Trump's agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration's commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential while delivering on our mandate to enforce our immigration laws." A palpable anxiety among Latino construction workers Palomino says he doesn't hire people who can't provide proof that they have a legal right to work in the U.S. — even though allowing people to work without that proof is common in construction, he says. The members of his workforce — originally from Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia and his native Peru — are all employees with a Social Security number and a driver's license. That's a necessity to work on a government project. For Palomino, playing by the rules means competing for an even smaller labor pool. But workers with work permits and green cards worry they too could be detained. Recently, Palomino said, several of his employees were stopped by ICE on their way into work, with agents holding them for hours before eventually releasing them. "I guess they were checking their background or whatever," he says. "We could not accomplish what we were supposed to do that day. And that, in turn, put us behind schedule." Sergio Barajas, head of the National Hispanic Construction Alliance, notes that although the number of actual ICE raids has been limited so far, the anxiety among Latino workers — documented and undocumented alike — is palpable. "That in and of itself is resulting in crews not showing up or a reduced number of persons on a given crew showing up," he says. Sponsor Message That wariness is so pervasive, he adds, that some Latino-owned firms are removing business signs from their trucks and vans to avoid being identified as construction crews so they won't be targeted. Barajas says there's "a bit of a hierarchy" in the industry, with infrastructure work like Palomino's firm does at the top, followed by commercial contractors, then mixed use and residential. At the lowest rungs, immigrants make up a higher percentage of trades such as plasterers and stucco masons, drywall and ceiling tile installers, roofers, painters and flooring installers, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Those jobs are desperately needed in the home-building industry, where the ongoing shortage of workers costs $11 billion annually, the Home Building Institute (HBI) estimates. In the U.S., the gap between supply and demand in the housing market is roughly 1.5 million housing units, NAHB says. Scott Turner, a homebuilder in the Austin, Texas, area, says where he is located, ICE raids haven't yet been high-profile enough to be a major source of cost increases, but they "can only have one effect on the cost of building a home, and that's to raise it." A labor shortage that goes back decades To be sure, the labor shortage predates the current crackdown on immigration, according to Jim Tobin, NAHB president and CEO. "Even when we were building more homes than we needed in the early 2000s, we still were facing a labor shortage," he says. He blames a long-running emphasis in the U.S. on four-year college degrees that, in turn, has devalued education in the trades. It's a point of view that gets a lot of nods of agreement among contractors. "Since we've done a terrible job of educating our domestic workforce, we've had to increase the pull from across our borders," Tobin says. Kenny Mallick at a job site in Virginia. Mallick says he is retiring after three decades in construction, largely over frustration with the "broken labor system" that keeps the industry going. Kenny Mallick at a job site in Virginia. Mallick says he is retiring after three decades in construction, largely over frustration with the "broken labor system" that keeps the industry going. Scott Neuman/NPR Kenny Mallick, a plumbing and heating contractor based in Gaithersburg, Md, says that's created a broken labor system that hurts the economy and is unfair to hardworking migrants. "They're taking risks every day by coming to work. They could be locked up and deported," he says. Sponsor Message Mallick says he voted for Trump and agrees with the president's stance that people who have committed crimes should be deported. However, he says one thing is clear: "We can't do what we do in this country without these people," he says. "They're stitched into every element of our fabric — from the people cooking in restaurants to the ones pouring concrete or laying brick." In return, he says, "we exploit the s*** out of these people." Mallick has worked in the construction industry for 30 years. But as he turns 59, he is planning to step back from the business — in large part, he says, because of these frustrations. He believes he and other contractors like himself need to stand up and tell the government "stop taking our people. We need them." The roots of the labor shortage go back at least 25 years. In the early 2000s, as the labor shortage grew amid a building boom, immigrants were filling many of the openings, especially in residential construction. "Undocumented immigrants became a key source of profitability in the industry," says Nik Theodore, the director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois, Chicago. That trend accelerated with the Great Recession, when the bottom fell out of the industry. Many U.S.-born workers left construction jobs and sought employment elsewhere. During the recovery, "contractors increasingly turned to immigrants to meet the shortage," Theodore says. Now the Trump administration's enforcement efforts are leaving the construction industry to cope with an ever-widening shortage of workers, Theodore says. Contractors, he says, are "going to have to pay more for the available workers" because "we're not just losing workers — we're losing workers who know how to drywall, lay flooring. There are real skill gaps." A 2023 report by NAHB shows that California and New Jersey have the highest percentage of foreign-born construction workers at 41% each, but that concentrations are nearly as high across the south, where construction is booming and wages are low. Texas and Florida both had 38%, Georgia 30% and Virginia and North Carolina at 27% each. Sponsor Message Theodore sees an irony in that "most contractors in the South are lifelong Republicans" who voted for Trump: "They agreed with him on deregulation and taxes, and they convinced themselves [that] Trump's rhetoric would focus on criminals, not the day-to-day construction workforce." National Guard soldiers block protestors during an ICE immigration raid at a nearby cannabis farm on July 10 near Camarillo, California. National Guard deployments Trump ties crime with immigration, blurring the lines with Guard deployment Mallick says he has always tried to run an "open shop" — one where employees aren't required to join a union. But he's competing against contractors who hire cheaper undocumented workers recruited through middle men called labor brokers. Those workers, he says, "are probably getting $25 an hour. The open-shop guy, $40. The union guy, $60." Meanwhile, the union worker has all but disappeared. An Associated Builders and Contractors analysis published earlier this year shows that the percentage of unionized workers in the construction industry has fallen to a record low of just over 10% from nearly 40% in 1973. Mark Erlich, a fellow at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School and a former head of the New England Carpenters Union, says declining unionization is partly responsible for "real wage stagnation" in the industry, adding: "There's tension between the political imperative of deportations and the interests of contractors who want certainty in planning their business." Will U.S.-born workers fill the construction labor gap? The White House suggests that mass deportations open up new job opportunities for U.S.-born workers; in that August statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote, "as illegal aliens continue to exit the labor force, more Americans are finding steady and gainful employment." Deportations leave holes to fill in the construction industry, but Mallick, Palomino and others say there are few U.S.-born workers willing to take them. In a report published in July, the non-partisan Economic Policy Institute, concluded that if the Trump administration meets its goal of deporting 4 million people by the end of 2028, 1.4 million immigrants who work in the construction industry would be lost. And there would be a net loss of 861,000 jobs among U.S.-born workers, partly because the sudden removal of part of the work force could force contractors to rapidly scale back or shut down entirely. Sponsor Message Palomino, for one, doesn't buy the administration's argument. "Contrary to whatever the government thinks," he says, the industry is not attracting new, native-born workers. "They don't want to come to work in construction." Nor Mallick: "There's not anyone sitting on the sidelines. Unemployment is low. Where are you going to get them at? The trades aren't sexy." In April, Trump issued an executive order promising to modernize the skilled trades workforce. But the order offered few details. In June, the Department of Labor also established a temporary Office of Immigration Policy that the administration says is a one-stop-shop aimed at helping employers secure the workforce they need and to create legal pathways for immigrants to work. Erlich thinks the industry could bring in more U.S.-born workers if the pay and conditions were more attractive. "When conditions have become so degraded — both compensation and safety — [it's] no surprise people don't join," he says. "Attracting people to an industry depends on whether they can have a legitimate career and prospects. It's not about kids not wanting to work — it's about the opportunity structure." In this file photo, an aerial view shows farm workers harvesting broccoli near the U.S.-Mexico border on March 9, 2024, in Yuma, Ariz. Immigration After early reprieve from immigration enforcement, farming industry reckons with raids Palomino echoes a common refrain in the construction industry — the solution, he says, is a visa program for immigrant workers: "Maybe [the government] can create a path — even if not for citizenship — for good workers to be allowed to work without fear," he says. Most workers in his business, he says, "just want to live and go day by day." That's the way Palomino sees himself. "I came to the U.S. with one suitcase," he says, "and now I have three families working for me. I think I've fulfilled my American dream — doing everything the right way, one step at a time." For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Voters prioritize the economy above immigration and crime in Election 2025, AP Voter Poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Economic worries were the dominant concern as voters cast ballots for Tuesday’s elections, according to preliminary findings from the AP Voter Poll. The results of the expansive survey of more than 17,000 voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City suggested the public was troubled by an economy that seems trapped by higher prices and fewer job opportunities. And a year after President Donald Trump was brought back to the White House on the promise that he could tame inflation and unleash growth, economic worries were still at the top of voters’ minds. Despite a rising stock market, inflation remains elevated, and hiring has slowed sharply. Since October, a federal government shutdown has only compounded the sense of uncertainty. While Trump has tried to highlight his efforts to deport immigrants in the country illegally and send federal officers and National Guard troops into cities to fight crime, few voters saw these issues as the top concern for the places they live. These broader economic anxieties were accompanied by high discontent in some of the off-year elections. More than half of voters in New Jersey and Virginia said they were “angry” or “dissatisfied” with how things were going in the country. Related Stories Economy dominated other issues in 2025 elections, poll finds Economy dominated other issues in 2025 elections, poll finds Election 2025: What to watch on Nov. 4 Election 2025: What to watch on Nov. 4 Poll: How key demographic groups voted in 2025 Poll: How key demographic groups voted in 2025 The economic challenges have played out in different ways at the local level. Most New Jersey voters said property taxes were a “major problem,” while most New York City voters said this about the cost of housing. Most Virginia voters said they’ve felt at least some impact from the recent federal government cuts. Most voters said they aren’t getting ahead financially Voters mostly said their own finances were stable, but the poll results suggested that many feel they cannot get ahead in the current economy. That leaves them feeling stuck in place, instead of moving up the financial ladder. About 6 in 10 voters in New Jersey, Virginia and New York City said their family’s finances were “holding steady,” but relatively few felt they were “getting ahead,” and about one-quarter said they were “falling behind.” About half of Virginia voters, who were deciding between Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears for governor, said the economy was the most important issue facing their state. Just 2 in 10 pointed to health care, about 1 in 10 named education or immigration, and fewer than that said crime was the top issue facing the commonwealth. Spanberger won that contest. Most New Jersey voters, who were choosing between Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill for governor, said either taxes or the economy were the top issue in their state. About one-third of voters named each of these issues, compared to about 2 in 10 who said this about health care. Less than 1 in 10 identified immigration or crime as top issues. Just over half of New York City voters said the cost of living was the most important issue in the city — as the expense of rent and level of income inequality has climbed in America’s most populated city. Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is running against Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. About one-quarter said crime was their major concern. Another 1 in 10 said this of immigration, and less than 1 in 10 pointed to health care or transportation as the top issue. Dissatisfaction with direction of the country The polling found a high level of discontent about America’s direction as a country in several states, a sign that few voters have felt reassured so far by Trump’s return to the White House. Democratic-led California asked its residents to vote Tuesday on a plan to redraw the lines of its congressional districts, after Trump has pushed Republican states such as Texas to amend their district boundaries in hopes of helping GOP candidates in next year’s midterm elections. About half of California voters described themselves as “angry” about the direction of the country, with another 2 in 10 saying they were “dissatisfied.” About 6 in 10 voters in Virginia and New Jersey said they are “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the way things are going in the country today. Just one-third said they are “enthusiastic” or “satisfied.” Federal cuts hit Virginia voters, while New Jersey voters worry about taxes People are stressed about affordability, but that’s manifesting itself in different ways. In Virginia, federal government layoffs and funding cuts initiated by the Trump administration seemed to be taking a toll. Roughly 6 in 10 voters said federal government cuts this year affected their family’s finances “a lot” or “a little.” Those economic woes could compound if the ongoing government shutdown persists and federal employees and contractors are forced to go without paychecks. In New Jersey, property taxes and electricity costs were raising alarms. About 7 in 10 New Jersey voters called property tax rates where they live a “major problem” and about 6 in 10 said that about their utility bills. Sherrill, the Democrat, seized on cost-of-living issues to attack Trump, whereas Ciattarelli has suggested that tax cuts would help to provide relief on inflation. In New York City, about 7 in 10 voters said the cost of housing where they live was “a major problem,” with renters being especially likely to point to this as an issue. Fewer voters called crime “a major problem” in the city. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Judge rules Trump administration can’t tie transportation funding to immigration

The Trump administration cannot withhold billions of dollars in transportation funding to states that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled Tuesday. Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell wrote in his ruling that the U.S. Department of Transportation and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy “blatantly overstepped” their authority in attempting to link funding used to maintain roads, bridges and highways to immigration demands. 00:06 Top Stories from POLITICO The video player is currently playing an ad. “The Constitution demands the Court set aside this lawless behavior,” McConnell wrote. The decision represents another victory for Democrat-led states that have countered DOT’s attempts to disrupt transportation funding, including $5 billion for electric vehicle chargers that a judge in June ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze. Twenty states, led by California, filed a lawsuit in May after Duffy outlined the administration’s expectations for cooperation with immigration officials in an April letter. McConnell issued a preliminary injunction blocking the directive on June 19, the day before a grant application deadline for states. “If President Trump wants to stop losing in court, he should stop breaking the law,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Tuesday. “The courts have repeatedly and firmly rejected the Trump Administration’s efforts to infringe on states’ constitutional right to set their own policy priorities.” U.S. DOT spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Duffy said in an April statement after DOT issued the immigration enforcement condition to states that federal grants “come with a clear obligation to adhere to federal laws.” However, McConnell, whom former President Barack Obama appointed in 2011, wrote in his preliminary injunction that the Trump administration did not “cite to any plausible connection between cooperating with ICE enforcement and the congressionally approved purposes of the Department of Transportation.” For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Trump says he is committed to ongoing ICE raids: 'They haven't gone far enough'

President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday that he was committed to continuing immigration enforcement raids across the country, saying, "I think they haven't gone far enough." He added, in an interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell on “60 Minutes,” that his mass deportation agenda, one of his central campaign promises in 2024, has been “held back by the judges, by the liberal judges, that were put in" by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. His remarks come even as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been photographed and taped at times using violent methods to detain immigrants across the country. Asked if he is OK with ICE agents sometimes using violent tactics, Trump said, "Yeah, because you have to get the people out." He added, "Many of them are murderers. Many of them are people that were thrown out of their countries because they were, you know, criminals." In June, internal ICE data obtained by NBC News found that in the last three months of the Biden administration and the first five months of the Trump administration, ICE had detained only 6% of the undocumented immigrants known to ICE to have been convicted of homicide and 11% of those known to ICE to have been convicted of sexual assault. Recommended From the Politics Desk 3 takeaways from our new poll: From the Politics Desk Elections Pro-Andrew Cuomo super PAC depicts Zohran Mamdani in front of Twin Towers attack in late ad Trump’s comments aren’t the first indication that the president favors aggressive immigration detention tactics. NBC News reported last week that the Trump administration planned to replace some regional ICE leaders with Border Patrol officials with the goal of intensifying the pace of deportations across the country. In particular, Trump administration officials welcomed Border Patrol’s aggressive tactics for immigration enforcement. In the "60 Minutes" interview, which was taped Friday, the president addressed concerns that his deportation agenda was arresting landscapers, farmers and other laborers, not just the criminals and "the worst of the worst" undocumented immigrants that he promised to deport during his presidential campaign. "Look, I need farmers and I need landscapers more than anybody," Trump told O'Donnell. Asked whether he intends to deport people who do not have a criminal record, the president told O'Donnell, "We have to start off with a policy, and the policy has to be, you came into the country illegally, you're going to go out." He added that if undocumented immigrants are deported and wish to come back to the United States, "we're going to work with you, and you're going to come back into our country legally." For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Trump Immigration Rule Could Make H-1B Visa Holders Too Costly To Hire

The Trump administration will publish a new immigration rule expected to price many H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants out of the U.S. labor market. The White House included the plan in the proclamation announcing a $100,000 fee on many H-1B visa holders. The new Department of Labor rule will likely be similar to the two attempts in Donald Trump’s first term to raise the salaries of high-skilled foreign nationals beyond what most employers can afford to pay. A significant body of research indicates that H-1B visa holders are paid the same or higher salaries than U.S. workers with comparable levels of education and experience. H-1B temporary visas are often the only way for high-skilled foreign nationals to work in the United States long term. When companies recruit at U.S. universities, they find that international students account for 73% of full-time graduate students in electrical and computer engineering. The H-1B annual limit is 65,000, with an exemption of 20,000 for individuals with master’s degrees or higher from a U.S. university, or about 0.05% of the U.S. labor force. In addition to government fees that can exceed $6,000, employers must pay the higher of the actual or prevailing wage paid to U.S. professionals with similar experience and qualifications. An Immigration Directive To Make H-1B Visa Holders Too Expensive To Employ Trump administration officials understood that the $100,000 fee to hire new H-1B visa holders contained in the Sept. 19 presidential proclamation would be prohibitive for employers, effectively blocking many high-skilled foreign nationals from ever working in the United States. They also knew it could not stop all H-1B professionals because the relevant section of U.S. law only allowed the proclamation to prevent the “entry” of H-1B professionals. PROMOTED U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released new guidance on Oct. 20 clarifying that the $100,000 fee would not apply when people change from one visa category to another without leaving the country, such as moving from F-1 student status to H-1B status. However, that did not mean the Trump officials directing immigration policy hoped to encourage a shift toward more international students. (The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit against the H-1B fee. That followed an earlier lawsuit from a diverse group of plaintiffs filed on Oct. 3.) The Trump administration has enacted several measures that make it less likely that international students will view the United States as the best place to pursue an education and launch a career. In August, DHS proposed a rule to limit international students by replacing the current “duration of status” policy with fixed admission periods. In September, Trump administration officials proposed a new immigration rule to change the H-1B selection process to favor senior-level candidates over recent international students. An upcoming rule is expected to restrict H-1B visa eligibility for all types of foreign nationals. MORE FOR YOU New Trump Immigration Policy: Ending The H-1B Visa Lottery Snubbing Trump, Immigration Nominee Would End Student Practical Training Trump Claims Bill ‘Eliminates’ Taxes On Social Security — Here’s Why That’s False The proclamation included a section that would affect every H-1B visa holder and applicants for employment-based green cards. The section called for the Department of Labor to publish a new rule to “revise the prevailing wage levels.” Revisiting The First Immigration Rule To Raise H-1B and Employment-Based Immigrant Required Salaries Although the publication date remains uncertain, the Trump administration’s new DOL wage rule is expected to be similar to the rules published in 2020 and 2021. Those rules, which did not go into effect, inflated the salaries that the federal government requires employers to pay for employment-based immigrants and H-1B visa holders. Three courts blocked the first DOL rule, published on October 8, 2020, because it violated the Administrative Procedure Act by taking effect immediately as an interim final rule without adequate justification. The second version, published as a final rule on January 14, 2021, also did not take effect. The Biden administration did not support the rule’s substantive changes to DOL regulations. CEO: C-suite news, analysis, and advice for top decision makers right to your inbox. Email Address Sign Up By signing up, you agree to receive this newsletter, other updates about Forbes and its affiliates’ offerings, our Terms of Service (including resolving disputes on an individual basis via arbitration), and you acknowledge our Privacy Statement. Forbes is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Under the law, an employer petitioning for an H-1B professional must pay “at least- (I) the actual wage level paid by the employer to all other individuals with similar experience and qualifications for the specific employment in question, or (II) the prevailing wage level for the occupational classification in the area of employment, whichever is greater.” (Emphasis added.) When sponsoring an individual for an employment-based green card through the DOL PERM process, employers must also pay at least the prevailing wage for the occupation in which the employee will work. symbol 00:00 03:12 Read More The two DOL rules published during Donald Trump’s first term ignored the definition of prevailing wage that appears on the Department of Labor website, which states, “The prevailing wage rate is defined as the average wage paid to similarly employed workers in a specific occupation in the area of intended employment.” “By requiring H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants to be paid well above the market wage for their services, the final rule makes it much more difficult for employers to sponsor high-skilled foreign nationals, including recent international students,” according to a 2021 National Foundation for American Policy analysis. “As economists know, when you raise the price of something, you get less of it. Given the substantial contributions made by employment-based immigrants, if the final rule goes into effect, it will mean America will get fewer jobs and startup companies, and less innovation.” Currently, to determine the prevailing wage, which is the minimum an employer can pay a foreign national, DOL gathers data from the government’s Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey and uses a mathematical formula to create four wage levels for each occupation and location. “The Department of Labor’s OEWS wage levels are designed as a job classification tool that reflects the amount of experience, supervision and responsibility required for a position,” said Vic Goel of Goel & Anderson in an interview. “A Level I role is simply an entry-level version of the occupation, while Level IV is a senior-level position requiring greater judgment and independence.” Level II is “qualified” and Level III is “experienced.” To raise wage requirements, Trump officials changed the formula to calculate the required minimum wage for permanent residence and temporary visas. In practice, the two DOL rules pushed the current minimum required salaries for Level I to or beyond the equivalent of the current Level II and raised the other levels as well. The result distorted what employers would pay when hiring or sponsoring a high-skilled foreign national. An NFAP analysis found that, on average, the first DOL wage rule would have raised the required minimum salary level by 39% to 45%, likely making it prohibitively expensive for employers to hire H-1B visa holders or sponsor high-skilled foreign nationals for permanent residence. Employers found increases under the rule in individual areas and occupations to be exorbitant. NFAP found, under the rule, that companies would be required to pay software developers $208,000 a year, regardless of skill level, in San Jose, San Francisco and many other U.S. cities, including Battle Creek, MI, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL and Reno, NV. Almost 40% of all approved PERM labor certifications for employment-based green cards are for software developers. The new DOL wage system under the rule required employers to pay precisely $100 an hour, or $208,000 a year, for over 18,000 combinations of occupations and geographic labor markets, regardless of skill level and position. The required minimum annual salary for a computer and information systems manager at Level I in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, increased 207% under the wage rule, while a hospital employing a pediatrician in Wichita, Kansas, at Level I would need to pay 177% more a year. In New York, compared to a private wage survey, an employer needed to pay a financial analyst more than three times the market wage ($208,000 vs. $66,428) to comply with the DOL rule. In the Los Angeles area, under the DOL wage rule, employing H-1B visa holders as software developers (system) would have cost companies 62% more than the market wage at Level I. On January 14, 2021, Trump officials shrugged off the judicial decisions that blocked the October rule and published a final rule instituting a new DOL wage system. The final rule represented only a slight improvement for employers. To comply with the rule, companies would have needed to pay employees, on average, far more than under the current system: 24% higher for Level I positions, 23% higher for Level II, 27% higher for Level III and 25% higher for Level IV. Being required to pay a salary premium of $30,000 to $40,000 or more annually for an H-1B visa holder or green card recipient would likely lead employers to hire individuals outside the United States or not at all. US Labor Department Headquarters The U.S. Department of Labor headquarters building is seen at dusk on June 21, 2024. (Photo by J. David Ake/Getty Images) Getty Images A Weak Justification For An Immigration Rule If history repeats itself, analysts expect the Trump administration to offer a weak justification for inflating the salaries of H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants beyond market wages. Madeline Zavodny, an economics professor at the University of North Florida and a former economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (and Dallas), analyzed DOL’s October 2020 interim final rule for a lawsuit and found the agency could not support its assertion that H-1B temporary holders are paid less than similarly employed U.S. workers. “Indeed, I believe this claim is not true,” wrote Zavodny. “This claim appears to form much of the basis for the Department’s proposed changes to the prevailing wage determination process for the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program and the EB-3 permanent resident visa program. . . . [E]mpirical evidence compiled by economists and other academic researchers indicates that workers who hold an H-1B visa are typically paid at least as much as similarly employed U.S.-born workers.” Among the examples of past research concluding H-1B visa holders are paid the same or more than similar U.S. workers: - The Government Accountability Office found H-1B professionals generally earn the same or more than their U.S. counterparts after comparing the median reported salaries of U.S. workers and H-1B professionals in the same fields and age groups. - University of Maryland researchers Sunil Mithas and Henry C. Lucas, Jr. examined the skills and compensation of over 50,000 IT professionals in the United States and found foreign-born professionals in information technology earned more than their native counterparts. - Economists Magnus Lofstrom and Joseph Hayes with the Public Policy Institute of California concluded, “We find that overall H-1B workers in STEM occupations have higher earnings than their otherwise observationally similar U.S.-born counterparts.” Economists criticized the evidence presented in the Trump administration’s proclamation to justify a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa holders, particularly the claim that “one study of tech workers showed a 36 percent discount for H-1B ‘entry-level’ positions as compared to full-time, traditional workers.” The study reached that conclusion only by comparing individuals with little to no labor-market experience to people who have worked for many years in the same occupation, a comparison economists consider invalid. “What does the 36 percent number compare those wages to?” asks George Mason University economics professor Michael Clemens in an analysis for PIEE. “The study tells you, right in the same table: It’s comparing the entry-level wage for H-1B workers to the average wage for everyone in that occupation, at all levels of experience, seniority, degrees, and technical knowledge. That reasoning would not pass muster in even an introductory economics course.” Clemens writes that “of course” entry-level computer programmers earn a lower wage than people with years or even decades more experience, connections and seniority. “That 36 percent entry-level wage gap, which the White House cites as clear evidence that H-1B workers undermine wages, suggests nothing of the kind,” he writes. “It is similar to the wage gap we should expect between all entry-level wages and all average wages—for all kinds of workers, in every firm, in every country, in all of modern history. More experienced workers have more tacit knowledge, have better outside options, and have proven their worth to the firm.” According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the two versions of the DOL wage rule were among the costliest in the history of modern regulation. The first version of the rule imposed a $165 billion transfer cost on employers over 10 years, and the final rule would have cost employers $105 billion over 10 years. The Trump administration appears determined to price H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants out of the U.S. labor market through immigration policy. Section four of the proclamation requiring the $100,000 fee on H-1B visa holders states, “The Secretary of Labor shall initiate a rulemaking to revise the prevailing wage levels to levels consistent with the policy goals of this proclamation…” (Emphasis added.) By imposing a $100,000 fee, the proclamation aimed to make it too costly for employers to hire high-skilled foreign nationals. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.