Worker Policy Watch
Your source for accurate and reliable information on how federal policies are shaping workers’ rights—and what’s at stake for working people nationwide under the Trump administration.
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Trump Orders Payment of $100,000 for Any New Visas Issued to Foreign Workers in Certain Highly Skilled Professions
This payment is designed to try to stem abuse of this program and instead make sure employers make adequate efforts to fill the positions with people already living in the United States.
Impact: With the new fee applying only to new visas and not to existing visa holders, it remains to be seen just how effective the new policy will be.
Trump Issues “The Gold Card” Executive Order, Allowing People and Employers To Purchase Immigration Visas for $1 Million and $2 Million Respectively
Visas are very hard to come by, with many people waiting more than a decade to immigrate to the United States to escape oppressive conditions and be reunited with family members.
Impact: The United States will now start the unseemly practice of selling visas to those who can afford to spend exhorbitant amounts of money, rather than those who have waited in line and have compelling reasons to immigrate.
Immigration Raids and Audits Impacting Workers and Elevating Risks to Businesses
Aggressive Trump administration immigration policy is putting businesses and gig corporations and their workforces on edge as companies anticipate a hiring squeeze.
Impact:
More than two dozen quarterly or annual filings from companies over the last month have revealed deep anxiety over civil penalties, workplace raids, and worker shortages in many sectors, as a result of the Trump administration’s immigration policy. Impacts are being felt and anticipated in science and technology sectors as well as in app-based or gig corporations. In some cities, up to 90 percent of ridehail drivers on digital labor platforms are immigrants, according to some reports.
U.S. Department of Labor Announces Proposed Rulemaking that Will Jeopardize Privacy of UI Applicants
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would change the disclosure of Unemployment Compensation (UC) information from “permissible” to “required” when requested by federal officials for the purposes of oversight and audits.
Impact:
The Trump administration argues that this change will better allow agencies to investigate complex fraud schemes more effectively. The notice of proposed rulemaking will be open to public comment for 30 days starting September 1st. States have a lot of confidential data about UI applicants and recipients and there are no details in the proposal about how this data will be used and how it will be protected, raising serious privacy and other concerns about this proposal.
U.S. Labor Force Has Lost 1.2 Million Immigrant Workers This Year, New Report Finds
A Pew Research Center analysis of Census data has found that 1.2 million immigrant workers left the U.S. labor force between January and July 2025. That total is inclusive of both documented and undocumented immigrants.
Impact:
Immigrant workers contribute to job growth and overall economic strength, and make up nearly 20% of the U.S. workforce. Businesses in industries that disproportionately rely on immigrant workers, like agriculture, construction, and care work, are particularly hard hit, with reports of wasted crops and construction slowdowns.
Mothers Are Leaving the U.S. Workforce in 2025
New analysis finds that the workforce participation rate for mothers aged 20 to 44 with young children declined by two percent from January to July 2025. This decline is driven by numerous factors, but the Trump administration’s approach of emphasizing jobs in male-dominated fields, rolling back flexible work arrangements like remote work, and attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace are all likely contributing to this trend.
Impact:
Reversing both short and long term trends to push mothers out of the labor force will make it harder for these workers to support their families and weaken the economy, which will lose access to their skills and contributions.
Trump-Imposed Work Requirements Will Push 2.4 Million off SNAP and 5.3 Million off Medicaid
The Congressional Budget Office forecasted that 2.4 million Americans, including families with children, will lose access to food stamp benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as a result of new work requirements imposed President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ reconciliation bill. The analysis also found that 5.3 million Americans would lose access to Medicaid for the same reason.
Impact:
Arguments for imposing work requirements are based on the false assumption that people who receive benefits do not work or do not want to work, and must be compelled to do so. In fact, most working-age adults that receive assistance from these programs are already working or temporarily between jobs. Research demonstrates that expanding work requirements adds unnecessary red tape and does little to improve employment opportunities or outcomes, and particularly harms people of color already disadvantaged in a labor market being weakened by the administration's policies.
Trump Attacks on Immigrants Worsening Caregiving Crisis
Millions of Americans rely on care workers to support themselves or family members on a day-to-day basis, and that workforce includes a significant share of both documented and undocumented immigrants. There is already an increasing shortage of workers to fill these critical roles, and Trump’s attacks on immigrants of all statuses will likely exacerbate this crisis.
Impact:
Weakening our care infrastructure can have ripple effects across the economy, as losing access to care workers can force family members out of the workforce to care for aging relatives or family members with disabilities.
Nearly Two Million Americans Now Rely on Unemployment Insurance
In a sign of a weakening labor market, nearly two million workers currently receive unemployment benefits through continuing claims, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Labor. Combined with the August jobs report showing a significant slowdown in hiring, the numbers demonstrate that many Americans cannot find new jobs and are facing longer periods of unemployment.
Impact:
The data reinforces the importance of robust unemployment insurance programs that workers can access when facing unemployment through no fault of their own. And due to structural racism in the U.S. labor market, including persistent occupational segregation, Black and Latinx workers face significantly higher rates of unemployment than white workers.
OMB Instructs Agencies to Abide by Biden-Era Rule Requiring Project Labor Agreements on Large Federally Funded Projects
A rare pro-worker move from this administration, this instruction will continue to help make jobs created with federal dollars good jobs.
Impact:
Employers on large scale federal contracts will have to enter into pre-contract committments to enter into CBAs with labor unions.