President Trump's mass deportation policies are gutting the restaurant industry, as they are forcing hundreds of thousands of its foreign-born workers to flee the country.

The new report “An Immigrant Industry: The Restaurant Industry Impacted by Mass Deportations” from the organization One Fair Wage (OFW), reveals that Trump's policies are causing staff shortages, increased prices and that the economy will contract.

“Immigrants are essential to the U.S. economy, particularly the restaurant sector, where 22% of all workers are foreign-born, including 46% of chefs and 18% of servers,” the report states.

However, it notes that in the months following Trump's return to the presidency, the U.S. workforce has shrunk by 800,000 people, due to the loss of 1.7 million foreign-born workers between March and July 2025, the first major decline in the workforce in years.

Applied to the restaurant sector, this labor exodus translates into a loss of approximately 137,000 immigrant workers in just four months, projected to reach 310,000 by the end of the year.

“Mass deportations are a form of economic sabotage,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of One. Fair Wage.

“Every deportation is a job loss for an American restaurant. The industry depends on immigrants, from dishwashers to chefs and owners, and without them, it collapses.”

The report explores cases in New York City, where 4,800 restaurant workers have fled the country. One in five restaurant workers are undocumented and at risk of deportation.

In Chicago, nearly 2,300 foreign-born workers lost their jobs between March and July, and in Washington, D.C., 800 have fled the country.

The report also highlights that more than a third of restaurant owners are foreign-born, almost double the national rate for other industries (36% versus 19%).

It indicates that for decades,Immigrants have been the backbone of the American food economy: they opened restaurants, supported small local businesses, and introduced new cuisines and cultural experiences that enrich communities. “The restaurant industry is the Ellis Island of the modern economy and it is under siege,” said Naila Rosario, Director of Policy and Partnerships at One Fair Wage.

“Trump’s policies are creating fear, instability, and chaos for millions of families and the businesses that employ them. We should be raising wages and protecting immigrant workers, not deporting them.”

The report concludes that, instead of escalating fear and deportation, the federal government and restaurant industry leaders must work together to raise wages, stabilize the workforce, and defend immigrants’ rights to prevent long-term damage to one of America’s most vital industries.

The full report, “An Immigrant Industry: Impacts of Mass Deportation on the Restaurant Industry,” is available at www.onefairwage.org/reports.

Local Reactions

Arturo Aguilar, owner of the El Valle Oaxaqueno bakery and restaurant in Los Angeles, said that the raids and deportations haven't affected them in terms of struggling to find staff.

“On the contrary, with the drop in sales, starting with the raids in June and the arrival of the National Guard in Los Angeles, we were forced to reduce working hours and give our employees fewer hours,” he said.

But in Los Angeles, he emphasized, they haven't had any problems finding workers.

“In other states, where there is less labor, there are problems. Here, thank God, it hasn't happened.”

He mentioned that one piece of good news is that restaurants have begun to recover in Los Angeles, with more people feeling comfortable going out.

“Now that Trump is focusing on raids in other states, people are starting to eat out again.”

Miguel Araujo, owner of Araujo's restaurant in San Francisco, said he is about to close because low sales have led him to default on his mortgage payments, and he has a debt of $90,000 that is practically impossible for him to pay.

“It's unbelievable that after 45 years, I'm going to lose the restaurant. It was already struggling, but with Trump's raids, things have gone downhill with very few customers,” he lamented.