Trump’s immigration crackdown is backfiring by hurting the U.S.-born workers it was meant to help, data shows

More than one year into the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, there’s little to suggest White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has achieved his goal of boosting the U.S.-born workforce by closing borders.

A National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) policy brief published this month noted from February 2025 to February 2026, labor force participation for U.S.-born workers age 16 and older actually fell from 61.4% to 61%, citing jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

That dip in the U.S.-born labor force—part of a larger labor market slowdown that saw just 181,000 jobs added to the U.S. economy in 2025—coincided with a swath of actions meant to curb immigration. This included roughly $170 billion in immigration enforcement funding, counting $75 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement through 2029, outlined in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB).

The crackdown appears to have had its intended effect in driving out immigrants ...