FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: lppipress@luskin.ucla.edu
UCLA Research Warns Immigration Crackdown Could Undermine State Economies
New analysis reveals that red and blue states alike depend on Latino immigrant labor to sustain key industries
LOS ANGELES (November 19, 2025) – A new data brief from the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) examines the contributions of Latino immigrant labor at a time of harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric and heightened immigration enforcement activities. Using American Community Survey (ACS) data, the research finds that Latino immigrants are essential to both red and blue state economies, particularly in the construction, agriculture, and service industries.
Authored by Ahmad Ismail, Arturo Vargas Bustamante, Jie Zong, and Silvia R. González, the brief analyzes the 10 states with the largest Latino immigrant populations – California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, from highest to lowest Latino immigrant populations. These states account for 76% of the nation’s 14.1 million Latino immigrant workers.
Key findings:
- Red states rely on Latino immigrant labor at similar rates to blue states, with Latino immigrants comprising 16% of the labor force in California and Florida, and 14% in Texas.
- Latino immigrants have higher labor force participation rates than the overall population in all the states studied, exceeding statewide rates by over 10 percentage points in North Carolina and Virginia.
- The majority of Latino immigrant workers are noncitizens in every state analyzed except Florida. In Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina, over two-thirds of Latino immigrant workers are noncitizens.
- Much of the growth in employment in the construction industry is driven by Latino immigrant labor, with the number of Latino immigrant construction workers in Florida and New Jersey increasing by 71% and 57% respectively over the last 10 years.
- Latino immigrants comprise 57% of the agricultural industry in California and 38% in Florida, often filling physically demanding jobs.
- One out of five service industry workers are Latino immigrants in the five states with the highest Latino immigrant populations.
“These statistics show how integral Latino immigrant labor is to the U.S. economy,” said Ismail, a research fellow at LPPI. “They keep U.S. businesses running by filling essential roles, preparing food, maintaining spaces, and supporting our aging adult population. Our research also indicates that Latino immigrants are powering construction booms in states like Florida and North Carolina, showing how essential their contributions are across both red and blue states.”
“Latino immigrants are indispensable to the U.S. economy, because they support industries that are difficult to automate or outsource,” Bustamante said. “Noncitizens, who we found include the majority of Latino immigrant labor, are a flexible labor force that adapts to the business cycle, particularly during economic growth periods when additional labor is needed. Recent escalation in immigration enforcement puts economies at risk of losing large shares of this workforce, which contributes trillions of dollars to the U.S. GDP.”
Read the full brief here.
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About UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute:
The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute is a non-partisan research institute that seeks to inform, engage, and empower Latinos through innovative research and policy analysis. LPPI aims to promote equitable and inclusive policies that address the needs of the Latino community and advance social justice. latino.ucla.edu.
