Workers with Temporary Legal Status Are in Limbo
And that means their employers are in limbo, too, including one of the two companies that make parachutes for U.S. troops.
Good Morning!
Here are today’s highlights:
Gene Marks loves lower taxes but doesn’t like President Trump’s tax bill.
Even with the biggest tariffs on pause, the emergency continues for small businesses.
Four new books warn against the ravages of private equity.
Today’s question: In tough times, are employee-owned businesses more resilient than other businesses?
HUMAN RESOURCES
The Trump administration is going after a crucial slice of the workforce: “‘Roughly 1.8 million people who entered the U.S. with temporary legal status are at risk of losing their deportation protections and work authorizations, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. Many entered the U.S. under humanitarian parole, a Biden-era program. Others have temporary protected status, or TPS, or entered the U.S. with parole at the border. These workers are a key cog in the tight labor market, where unemployment hovers near historic lows. They work at Amazon.com, GE Appliances, and Marriott, and at smaller employers such as Eli’s Cheesecake in Chicago and Goodwin Living, an operator of senior-living communities in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.”
“John Oswald, the chief executive of Mills Manufacturing, has dozens of workers from Ukraine, Nicaragua, and other countries that are at risk of losing their legal status. The 90-year-old business is one of just two companies left that are qualified to make the MC-6 and the T-11, the main personnel parachutes for the U.S. military. ‘If we lose these workers, it would be devastating to our business,’ said Oswald, walking around a factory filled with the humming of sewing machines. ‘That puts the rest of the workforce at risk.’”
“Many of the employees have worked at these sewing machines for years. About a quarter of the staff are immigrants living and working under temporary legal protections that have come under fire from the Trump administration. The Supreme Court on May 19 allowed the administration to strip such protections for about 350,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S.”
“For decades, Mills has hired a mix of U.S.-born and foreign-born workers to sew and cut for 10-hour shifts. Workers can earn up to $20 an hour, plus overtime, including bump-ups for mastering additional skills. Oswald pays employees bonuses totaling $500 when they refer a successful hire. At Mills, a third of the workers are Latinos and another third have come from Eastern Europe. Signs are written in four languages: English, Spanish, Moldovan and Russian. A large group gathers each Friday for a two-hour English class.”
“Elba Lozano, another trainer, crossed the Mexican border with her mother at age 12, after her father died, and joined Mills as an inspector nearly two decades ago. Lozano, now 45 and a U.S. citizen, said she agrees with deporting immigrants if they are criminals, ‘but if they are hardworking people, doing taxes, they have a clean record, give them an opportunity.’” READ MORE
