PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — WPTV is examining what appears to be a shifting strategy to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
WATCH BELOW: 'It's getting very challenging,' attorney Richard Hujber says
We’ve been following the Trump administration’s latest effort to round up 3,000 immigrants every day.
Over the weekend two big headlines, President Donald Trump ordering ICE to increase deportations in America’s largest cities. The announcement comes at the same time — the administration has directed ICE to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels.
At the Lago Motor Inn Motel on Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach, owner Richard Baron doesn’t employ any undocumented workers but he knows how much his industry relies on them.
“They are already here. We have them," said Baron. "Just check them. Check them, if they were arrested. What kind of people are they and then, let them stay.”
Baron said he's in favor of deporting undocumented immigrants who may have criminal records or are causing trouble but he is concerned about the potential impact that mass deportations could have on his industry.
"How much do immigrants contribute to staffing, whether it's housekeeping and stuff like that?" asked WPTV's Joel Lopez.
"Who else is going to clean those room and for that low average pay?" said Baron.
It's a concern that's reached President Trump who wrote on his Truth social platform that "Changes are coming!"
"There's nothing specific, because I'm having clients that do that work that are still being picked up even today," said immigration attorney Richard Hujber.
He said his office phone has been ringing off the hook and is waiting to see if any legislative changes will be made in regards to the pause of raids on the industries.
"We're fighting and we're doing all we can and it's getting very challenging," said Hujber.
Just last week a raid led to the arrest of 11 undocumented workers from a job site down in Miami.
Agents arrested 100 other immigrants at a construction site in Tallahassee last month.
Lopez reached out to the Department of Homeland Security which said in a statement:
"We will follow the president's direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America's streets."
-Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary.
Peter Ricci, Ed.D, the director of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program at Florida Atlantic University, shares his perspective on the essential role immigrants play in the hospitality sector, particularly in hotels.
He said statistics are anecdotal.
"That's the problem with this type of issue, where employers are always super cautious to utilize E-Verify and other methods to not employ anyone illegible to work in the us." Ricci explains. "However, the bigger concern is that fewer people will attempt to emigrate to the USA. And, often, new immigrants coming to the country and awaiting permanent residency have gravitated into hospitality and tourism roles across hotels, restaurants, casinos, amusement and theme parks, cruise lines, car rental agencies, retail outlets, bakeries, catering & event companies, on-call staffing for banquets, and so on and so forth."
He said the "pool" of eligible workers with legal work authorization is shrinking and of concern to the overall hospitality and tourism industry due to being short staffed in terms of long-term, qualified, excellent service providers.
Ricci emphasizes staffing has been an issue since the COVID-19 pandemic.
"After COVID, the industry lost many of its workers and the workforce is slow to return to begin with. Add in this confounding mass deportation situation and we have even fewer workers available from the pool," said Ricci. "According to just the hotel sector, the American hotel industry has replaced 467,000 direct employees out of the 680,000 workers lost due to COVID. Worse, we have opened a myriad of new hotels since that time frame, meaning we probably need over 725,000 to be fully staffed, in my opinion."
The aftermath of the pandemic, combined with ongoing challenges such as workforce deportations, means that the hospitality and tourism sectors require more skilled employees than ever before.
Ricci underscores that this pressing need isn't exclusive to hotels—many industries within the tourism umbrella are equally affected.
An ICE representative for the Miami chapter told WPTV he's working to confirm when the pause on the industries will take place and how they plan to be executed.
